Mexico Quake Death Toll Rises to 15

Mexico's civil defense chief says the death toll from the earthquake that hit off southern Mexico has risen to at least 15.

Luis Felipe Puente told the Televisa network that 10 had died in Oaxaca state, three in Chiapas and two in Tabasco.

The magnitude 8.1 quake struck shortly before midnight Friday near the Guatemala border.

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5 a.m.

Authorities in Mexico say they are evacuating residents in Puerto Madero in Chiapas as a precaution due to a tsunami alert put in place after a major earthquake struck the country.

Chiapas' civil protection agency tweeted that the evacuation was underway and posted photos of residents getting off a truck and going into what appeared to be a shelter. No further details have been provided.

A tsunami warning was put in place after the earthquake hit Mexico's southern coast. The U.S. Geological Survey says that the quake had a magnitude of 8.1, while Mexico'spresident says it was 8.2. At least five deaths have been confirmed in Mexico, with the death toll expected to rise.

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3:50 a.m.

Authorities in Mexico say that a hotel in Oaxaca has collapsed in the major earthquake that hit the country, but no one has been reported dead.

Civil Defense photos showed the crumbling facade of the Anel hotel in Matias Romero and split in half. President Enrique Pena Nieto said no one was reported dead at the hotel.

Earlier, Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat said that some people were able to escape from the hotel and authorities were working to determine if they were any casualties or missing people.

Pena Nieto says that the magnitude of the earthquake that hit the country is 8.2, the biggest the country has seen in a century.

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2:50 a.m.

Mexico's president says that the magnitude of the earthquake that hit the country is 8.2, the biggest the country has seen in a century.

Enrique Pena Nieto confirmed that at least five people have died in the temblor. He also said that major damage has been caused and that 1 million initially had been without power following the quake, but that electricity had been restored to 800,000 of them.

He said that there have been 62 aftershocks and it's possible one as strong as 7.2 could hit.

The U.S. Geological Survey has reported that the quake had a magnitude of 8.1. It hit off the coast of southern Mexico, toppling houses in Chiapas state, causing buildings to sway violently as far away as the country's distant capital and setting off a tsunami warning.

2:20 a.m.

Tsunami waves have been measured off Mexico's Pacific coast after a major earthquake.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says waves of 1 meter (3.3 feet) above the tide level were measured off Salina Cruz. Smaller tsunami waves were observed on the coast or measured by ocean gauges in several other places.

The center's forecast said Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala could see waves of a meter or less.

No threat was posed to Hawaii and the western and South Pacific.

An 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of southern Mexico, toppling houses in Chiapas state, causing buildings to sway violently as far away as the country's distant capital and setting off a tsunami warning.

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2 a.m.

The death toll in the massive earthquake in Mexico has risen to at least five people, including two children in Tabasco state.

Tabasco Gov. Arturo Nunez said that one of the children died when a wall collapsed, and the other was a baby who died in a children's hospital that lost electricity, cutting off the supply to the infant's ventilator.

The other three deaths were in Chiapas state, in San Cristobal de las Casas.

An 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of southern Mexico, toppling houses in Chiapas state, causing buildings to sway violently as far away as the country's distant capital and setting off a tsunami warning.

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1:35 a.m.

The governor of the Mexican state of Chiapas says that at least three people have been killed in his region in a massive earthquake that hit off the country's coast.

Gov. Manuel Velasco told Milenio TV that the deaths occurred in San Cristobal de las Casas. He also said that the quake damaged hospitals and schools.

An 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of southern Mexico, toppling houses in Chiapas state, causing buildings to sway violently as far away as the country's distant capital and setting off a tsunami warning.

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12:15 a.m.

A powerful earthquake is shaking Mexico's capital city, causing people to flee swaying buildings and knocking out lights to part of the city.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a magnitude of 8.0 and its epicenter was 165 kilometers (102 miles) west of Tapachula in southern Chiapas state. It had a depth of 35 kilometers.

Even in distant Mexico City the quake was felt so strongly that frightened residents gathered in the streets in the dark, fearing buildings would collapse.