MEXICO CITY (AP) — The latest on the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that hit southern Mexico (all times local):

Mexican authorities are reporting damage in a southern town from Friday's magnitude 7.2 earthquake.

The Interior Department said in a statement Saturday morning that 50 homes suffered major structural damage in Santiago Jamiltepec, Oaxaca state, along with other damage to the city hall and main church.

The national electricity commission said nearly 1 million users lost power, but it was expected to be restored over the course of the day.

Oaxaca state prosecutors also raised the death toll to 13 after a military helicopter carrying officials who were assessing quake damage crashed. All the victims were on the ground at the time of the accident, and fifteen people were injured.

The aircraft was carrying Interior Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat, neither of whom had serious injuries

A military helicopter carrying Mexico's interior secretary and a state governor who were assessing damage from a powerful earthquake has crashed in the southern state of Oaxaca, killing two people on the ground.

Mexico's Interior Department says Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Gov. Alejandro Murat were evaluating reports of damage from Friday's quake when their helicopter crashed near the city of Pinotepa Nacional.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that both officials and crew were fine, but some people on the ground had been killed or injured. The Interior Department put the death toll at two.

A magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook south and central Mexico on Friday, causing people to flee swaying buildings and office towers in the country's capital. There were no reports of severe damage.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>A military helicopter carrying two Mexican government officials crashed Friday during a survey of earthquake damage, killing two people on the ground.

The chopper was carrying Mexico's Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete Prida and Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat, who were not seriously harmed.

The earthquake struck southern Mexico Friday, causing minor damage in the state of Oaxaca, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 7.2 and said its epicenter was a rural area of southern Oaxaca state near the Pacific Coast and the border with Guerrero state.

Officials in Oaxaca say there was superficial damage to some buildings and that about 100,000 people had lost power. The state government said shelters have been opened for those fleeing damaged homes.

In Mexico City, residents felt sustained shaking for about a minute, with tall buildings swaying and cracks appearing in the plaster of older structures.

Both Mexico City and southern Mexico are still recovering from earthquakes in September that caused widespread damage.

Residents in Mexico City flooded into the streets Friday, fearing a repeat of the strong September quake, but there were no signs of major damage.

Tremors were felt as far away as Guatemala to the south.</s>OAXACA, Mexico (KGTV) - At least 13 people were killed and 15 others were injured after a helicopter crashed while surveying damage from Mexico's 7.2-magnitude earthquake Friday.

The victims, all of whom were on the ground at the time of the crash, included five women, four men, and three children, according to the Associated Press. The Oaxaca state prosecutor's office said another victim died at a nearby hospital.

The group of people had reportedly been spending the night in an open field following the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico's southern state Friday, the AP reported.

The helicopter was reportedly carrying Mexico’s interior minister and Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat, according to Reuters. Murat reportedly was not injured.

Friday's earthquake hit shortly after 3:30 p.m., northeast of the city of Pinotepa de Don Luis. It was originally reported as a preliminary 7.5-magnitude quake, before being downgraded.

At least 100,000 people were left without power in Oaxaca and at least 50 homes were damaged by the earthquake as well.

Social media following the earthquake showed lights swaying violently inside buildings and people fleeing outside in Mexico City, where a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit last September, killing an estimated 200, including 22 school children.</s>MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico appeared Saturday to have escaped major destruction after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake rattled the country, but it rekindled fears in a population that still sees daily reminders of deadly earthquakes that struck five months ago.

The Interior Department said in a statement that 50 homes suffered significant structural damage in Santiago Jamiltepec, Oaxaca state, along with other damage to the city hall and main church. The national electricity commission said nearly 1 million users lost power, but it was expected to be restored over the course of the day.

But a military helicopter carrying officials assessing damage from the quake crashed in the country's south late Friday, killing 13 people and injuring 15, all of them on the ground.

The Oaxaca state prosecutor's office said in a statement that five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later at the hospital.

A state government official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said the chopper crashed into a group of people who had been spending the night in an open field, fearful of returning to their homes as aftershocks continued to shake the terrain hours later.

When the quake struck Friday, Maricarmen Trujillo was on the same eighth floor of a Mexico City office building where she rode out a Sept. 19 earthquake that killed 228 people in the capital alone.

"I relived a lot of those moments," Trujillo said, still jittery. This time an emergency app on her cellphone gave her a 30-second warning before things started to shake. She stayed in place, but felt more prepared.

Mexican Civil Protection chief Luis Felipe Puente tweeted that there were no immediate reports of deaths directly related to the quake.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that Interior Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Gov. Alejandro Murat, who were on the helicopter that crashed in Oaxaca, were fine.

Scars from a magnitude 8.2 quake Sept. 7 that killed nearly 100 people in Oaxaca and neighboring Chiapas are still fresh, while in Mexico City, wounds from the Sept. 19 quake remain visible. Many buildings left uninhabitable are still awaiting demolition, and people flooded into the streets as the ground seethed Friday.

The U.S. Geological Survey originally put the magnitude of Friday's quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicenter was 33 miles (53 kilometers) northeast of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles (24 kilometers).

USGS seismologist Paul Earle said it appeared not to be an aftershock of the 8.2 temblor on Sept. 7 in Oaxaca.

Gladys Barreno Castro was at work on the 29th floor of a downtown office building in Mexico City, but recognized quickly that the shaking was not as violent this time.

"It lasted a long time, but it wasn't as strong," Barreno said. "I didn't think that it was going to destroy the city like the last time."</s></s>MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico appeared Saturday to have escaped major destruction after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake rattled the country, but it rekindled fears in a population that still sees daily reminders of deadly earthquakes that struck five months ago.

The Interior Department said in a statement that 50 homes suffered significant structural damage in Santiago Jamiltepec, Oaxaca state, along with other damage to the city hall and main church. The national electricity commission said nearly 1 million users lost power, but it was expected to be restored over the course of the day.

But a military helicopter carrying officials assessing damage from the quake crashed in the country’s south late Friday, killing 13 people and injuring 15, all of them on the ground.

The Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office said in a statement that five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later at the hospital.

A state government official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said the chopper crashed into a group of people who had been spending the night in an open field, fearful of returning to their homes as aftershocks continued to shake the terrain hours later.

When the quake struck Friday, Maricarmen Trujillo was on the same eighth floor of a Mexico City office building where she rode out a Sept. 19 earthquake that killed 228 people in the capital alone.

“I relived a lot of those moments,” Trujillo said, still jittery. This time an emergency app on her cellphone gave her a 30-second warning before things started to shake. She stayed in place, but felt more prepared.

Mexican Civil Protection chief Luis Felipe Puente tweeted that there were no immediate reports of deaths directly related to the quake.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that Interior Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Gov. Alejandro Murat, who were on the helicopter that crashed in Oaxaca, were fine.

Scars from a magnitude 8.2 quake Sept. 7 that killed nearly 100 people in Oaxaca and neighboring Chiapas are still fresh, while in Mexico City, wounds from the Sept. 19 quake remain visible. Many buildings left uninhabitable are still awaiting demolition, and people flooded into the streets as the ground seethed Friday.

The U.S. Geological Survey originally put the magnitude of Friday’s quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicenter was 33 miles (53 kilometers) northeast of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles (24 kilometers).

USGS seismologist Paul Earle said it appeared not to be an aftershock of the 8.2 temblor on Sept. 7 in Oaxaca.

Gladys Barreno Castro was at work on the 29th floor of a downtown office building in Mexico City, but recognized quickly that the shaking was not as violent this time.

“It lasted a long time, but it wasn’t as strong,” Barreno said. “I didn’t think that it was going to destroy the city like the last time.”</s>
• None An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 at a depth of 24 km occurred in the State of Oaxaca, southern Pacific Coast of Mexico, on 16 February at 23:39 UTC. The epicentre was located 37 kilometres northeast of Pinotepa, in Oaxaca State. After the earthquake, there have been registered 261 aftershocks including a 5.8 magnitude one.
• None The National Emergency Committee has informed that there are no dead people due to the earthquake. In Pinotepa, there were two people injured and in the city of Santiago Jamiltepec, close to the epicentre, there were 50 houses damaged and the main hospital has suffered damages that affect its normal functioning.
• None A military helicopter crashed on 16 February, killing two people on the ground. It was carrying the Oaxaca state governor and the Ministry of Interior to the affected areas, neither of whom were seriously harmed.
• None Mexican authorities will be conducting damage and needs assessments on the early hours of Saturday 17 February.</s>MEXICO CITY — Mexico appeared Saturday to have escaped major destruction after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake rattled the country, but it rekindled fears in a population that still sees daily reminders of deadly earthquakes that struck five months ago.

The Interior Department said in a statement that 50 homes suffered significant structural damage in Santiago Jamiltepec, Oaxaca state, along with other damage to the city hall and main church. The national electricity commission said nearly 1 million users lost power, but it was expected to be restored over the course of the day.

But a military helicopter carrying officials assessing damage from the quake crashed in the country’s south late Friday, killing 13 people and injuring 15, all of them on the ground.

The Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office said in a statement that five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later at the hospital.

A state government official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said the chopper crashed into a group of people who had been spending the night in an open field, fearful of returning to their homes as aftershocks continued to shake the terrain hours later.

When the quake struck Friday, Maricarmen Trujillo was on the same eighth floor of a Mexico City office building where she rode out a Sept. 19 earthquake that killed 228 people in the capital alone.

“I relived a lot of those moments,” Trujillo said, still jittery. This time an emergency app on her cellphone gave her a 30-second warning before things started to shake. She stayed in place, but felt more prepared.

Mexican Civil Protection chief Luis Felipe Puente tweeted that there were no immediate reports of deaths directly related to the quake.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that Interior Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Gov. Alejandro Murat, who were on the helicopter that crashed in Oaxaca, were fine.

Scars from a magnitude 8.2 quake Sept. 7 that killed nearly 100 people in Oaxaca and neighboring Chiapas are still fresh, while in Mexico City, wounds from the Sept. 19 quake remain visible. Many buildings left uninhabitable are still awaiting demolition, and people flooded into the streets as the ground seethed Friday.

The U.S. Geological Survey originally put the magnitude of Friday’s quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicenter was 33 miles (53 kilometers) northeast of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles (24 kilometers).

USGS seismologist Paul Earle said it appeared not to be an aftershock of the 8.2 temblor on Sept. 7 in Oaxaca.

Gladys Barreno Castro was at work on the 29th floor of a downtown office building in Mexico City, but recognized quickly that the shaking was not as violent this time.

“It lasted a long time, but it wasn’t as strong,” Barreno said. “I didn’t think that it was going to destroy the city like the last time.”</s>A magnitude-7.2 earthquake that hit southwest Mexico caused further damage to a weakened building in Mexico City on February 16. No major damage or deaths were reported in the city, governor Miguel Angel Mancera tweeted. Aftershocks followed the quake that shook the state of Oxaca, where minor damage was reported. Oaxaca’s governor said at least 100,000 people were without power, according to a journalist. Credit: @CDMX_ense Jorge Gamboa via Storyful

Earthquake Causes Further Damage to Weakened Building in Mexico City 0:33

A STRONG earthquake shook southern and central Mexico, causing panic less than six months after two devastating quakes that killed hundreds of people.

No buildings collapsed, according to early reports. But two towns near the epicentre, in the southern state of Oaxaca, reported damage and state authorities said they had opened emergency shelters.

Both Mexico’s National Seismological Service and the US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.2.

A military helicopter carrying Mexico’s interior minister and the governor of the southern state of Oaxaca has crashed, killing two people during a tour of damage from an earthquake earlier in the day, but the senior officials survived.

Interior Minister Navarete told TV network Televisa that he and Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat were not seriously harmed in the accident that happened as the helicopter was attempting to land.

The ministry issued a statement on Twitter saying two people on the ground were killed when the helicopter came down.

The officials were surveying the aftermath of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake.

It triggered Mexico City’s alarm system and caused buildings to sway in the capital. It was also felt in the states of Guerrero, Puebla and Michoacan.

Panicked residents flooded into the streets, fearing a repeat of the two quakes last September, which caused buildings to collapse and killed a total of 465 people.

“To be honest, we’re all pretty upset. We start crying whenever the (earthquake) alarm goes off,” 38-year-old publicist Kevin Valladolid told AFP through tears after evacuating from his building in La Roma, in central Mexico City.

“We’re stressed out, we have flashbacks. So we run out into the street. It’s all we can do.” On the north side of the city, Julia Hernandez said she felt like she was “in a boat” as the ground swayed beneath her feet.

“Is it ever going to stop?” she said.

Standing in the middle of the street, her eyes glued to her fifth-floor apartment, Graciela Escalante, 72, could hardly speak.

“It was terribly strong. We barely managed to get down the stairs. It was the longest staircase in the world,” she told AFP.

“We thought everything was going to collapse again.”

Officials in affected states said they were inspecting buildings damaged by last year’s quakes, which are especially vulnerable to collapse.

“Obviously people are afraid,” said the emergency response chief for the city of Puebla, Gustavo Ariza.

President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted that the National Emergency Committee had been activated because of the magnitude of the quake.

Emergency management authorities said there were no reports of major damage so far.

In Oaxaca, where the epicentre was located, authorities reported some structural damage to buildings in two towns, Pinotepa Nacional and Santiago Jamiltepec.

“Shelters have already been opened for those affected,” the state government said on Twitter.

That included reports of a wall that collapsed in the upscale Condesa neighbourhood, which was hit hard by last year’s quakes.

A nearby hospital evacuated patients into the street, some in wheelchairs or carting their IV lines. Similar scenes played out in Veracruz.

The quake struck at a relatively deep 24.7 kilometres, said the US Geological Survey, which put the epicentre 37 kilometres northeast of Pinotepa de Don Luis, in Oaxaca.

A 5.9-magnitude aftershock hit nearly an hour later.

The latest tremor comes less than six months after last year’s devastating earthquakes in central and southern Mexico.

On September 7 last year, an 8.2-magnitude earthquake shook the nation and killed 96 people, mostly in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Then on September 19 — the 32nd anniversary of a huge 1985 quake that killed 10,000 people — a 7.1-magnitude quake rocked the country, leaving 369 people dead.

Mexico sits at a spot where five tectonic plates come together, making it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.</s>A powerful earthquake shook south and central Mexico Friday, causing people to flee buildings and office towers in the country's capital, and setting off quake alert systems.

Crowds of people gathered on central Reforma Avenue in Mexico City as the ground shook.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's preliminary magnitude at 7.2 and said its epicenter was 33 miles (53 kilometers) northeast of Pinotepa in Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles (24 kilometers).

The epicenter is a rural area of western Oaxaca state near the Pacific coast and the border with Guerrero state.

The Oaxaca state civil protection agency said via Twitter that it was monitoring the coastline.

Mexico is susceptable to major earthquakes because it sits near the boundaries of three fault lines. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake in central Mexico on Sept. 19 left 228 people dead in the capital and 369 across the region.

In 1985, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake reduced Mexico City to rubble, killing thousands.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes near the town of Pinotepa Nacional and is widely felt across Southern and Central Mexico, causing material damages in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Mexico City. It is followed by a 5.8-magnitude aftershock.