Mexico quake death toll soars to more than 100

Rescuers search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building after a powerful quake in Mexico City on September 19, 2017. / AFP / Alfredo Estrella/

MEXICO City, Mexico (AFP) — A devastating quake in Mexico on Tuesday killed more than 100 people, according to official tallies, with a preliminary 30 deaths recorded in the capital where rescue efforts were still going on.

Volunteers and emergency crews were digging through the rubble of 29 collapsed buildings in Mexico City, according to municipal authorities.

The overall toll rose steadily in the hours after the 7.1-magnitude quake, and now stood at 106.

Officials said Morelos state directly south of the capital suffered 42 of the deaths.

Thirty deaths were confirmed in Mexico City.

Puebla, a town southeast of the capital, registered 26 deaths, while Mexico state, which lies just to the west, had eight deaths.

Tuesday’s disaster occurred exactly 32 years after a 1985 quake in Mexico City that killed 10,000 people.

© Agence France-Presse