Posted on 04/05/2010 1:04:20 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
* Quake cracks highway linking Tijuana to Mexicali (Updates with report on injuries, details of damage)
TIJUANA, Mexico, April 4 (Reuters) - A major 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the Mexico-California border on Sunday, killing at least one person as it rocked buildings, ruptured a highway and panicked residents from Tijuana to Los Angeles.
One person died when a house in Mexicali collapsed, Alfredo Escobedo, director of emergency services in Baja California state, Mexico, said. He said others had been trapped in elevators, retaining walls collapsed in some places and electricity was out in several parts of the state.
"There are around 100 people injured," Escobedo told Reuters, but he had no reports of people stuck under collapsed buildings.
Local newspaper La Cronica said two people had died.
The relatively shallow quake was centered in a lightly populated area in northeastern Baja California near the city of Mexicali on the U.S. border. It knocked down power lines, cut off most phone communications and tore big cracks in a highway linking Tijuana to Mexicali.
The U.S. town of Calexico, over the border from Mexicali, suffered substantial structural damage but no casualties, local Fire Chief Pete Mercado told ABC7 TV News in Los Angeles.
"We are a population of 40,000 people, bordered next to 1.5 million. So we have a significant amount of damage down in Mexicali," he said. "I have not got an update from the Mexican side."
Mexicali is a prosperous city and a busy border crossing with the United States. Local industry is mainly agriculture, food processing plants and assembly-for-export plants.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Latest of 3.5:
M3.5 - BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO - 2010 April 05 08:30:49 UTC
Look for Mexicali on the Google Map;
Mexicali gradually returning to normal after earthquake, Mexican officials say
********************************EXCERPT*************************************
Normal routines gradually returned Monday to the border city of Mexicali, Mexico, hit hard Easter Sunday by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake felt as far away as Los Angeles and Phoenix, Mexican authorities said.“Little by little, things are coming back to normal,” said Alejandro Contreras, a spokesman for the state government in Mexicali, a sprawling municipality of almost 1 million situated about 125 miles east of San Diego. “People are nervous, of course, but we are calling for calm and working to restore services.”
The quake left two dead and about 230 injured, none seriously, said Jorge Sanchez Rendon, another government spokesman. Most of the injured had scratches and bruises, he said.
The northbound border into Calexico, Calif., from Mexicali, Mexico, remained closed to automobile traffic Monday morning because of concerns about damage to the U.S. federal building, but people were allowed to walk through checkpoints into the U.S. as aftershocks rattled the region.
Authorities reported a total of 45 collapsed or partially collapsed buildings in Baja California.
Mexicali street
However when you click the link at the list the record still shows 7.2....
I wonder why they are changing it back? It does look like the aftershocks are weakening in intensity now.
WOW!! Just catching up on your thread. Somehow I missed it this morning!
This was sent in on a earthquake forum where I am a member.
Good video...some not so great language! sigh!
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-428979
Was that dust over the mountains or clouds...?
I did read some of the comments but not all of them.
LA Channel 7 had some video this afternoon showing a swimming pool with the water coming out of the pool and splashing quite high...and lots of damage in Mexicali...and some in Calexico.
yes, dust clouds!!!
I’ve not watched the news but from what I gather online there was quite a bit of damage in Mexicali.
Of course in comparrison to Chile and Haiti, it is miniscule!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.