Rescuers, firefighters, policemen, soldiers and volunteers remove rubble and debris from a flattened building in search of survivors after a powerful quake in Mexico City on September 19, 2017.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Nearly 140 people were killed when a powerful, 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Mexico on Tuesday, toppling buildings in the capital and sowing panic on the anniversary of a devastating 1985 quake.

The toll could rise further. Rescue crews and volunteers in Mexico City — home to 20 million people — were clawing through the rubble of at least 49 collapsed buildings looking for survivors and bodies.

Mexico City recorded 36 of the deaths, while Morelos state directly south of it saw 64 killed. The others were registered in Puebla (29), a town southeast of the capital, and in Mexico state (nine), which lies just to the west of the capital.

National Coordinator for Civil Protection Luis Felipe Puente said a total of at least 138 people died.

“I’m so worried. I can’t stop crying. It’s the same nightmare as in 1985,” Georgina Sanchez, 52, sobbed to AFP in a plaza in the capital.

Amamia Sanchez, a 45-year-old secretary cried out: “It’s just not possible that this happened also on September 19.”

In the quake exactly 32 years earlier, 10,000 people perished in Mexico City. Memories of that event spurred panic on Tuesday and prompted many to quickly run for safety outdoors when walls around them swayed and cracked.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/UPDATE:_Nearly_140_killed_in_powerful_Mexico_quake