Buildings Damaged, Rubble In Mexico City Streets After Quake
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MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexican television stations are broadcasting images of collapsed buildings in heavily populated parts of Mexico City following Tuesday's earthquake. Televisa broadcast images of a plume of smoke rising from one large structure.
One of the collapsed buildings is a large parking garage alongside a hospital.
Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera says there are reports of people trapped in collapsed buildings, though the number is not clear.
He told the Televisa network that there appear to be 20 or more buildings that collapsed or suffered serious damage.
Mexico State Gov. Alfredo del Mazo tells the Televisa news network that the magnitude 7.1 earthquake has killed at least two people in his state, which borders Mexico City.
Del Mazo said a quarry worker was killed when the quake unleashed a rock slide, and another died when hit by a falling lamppost.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 7.1 and was centered near the Puebla state town of Raboso, about 76 miles (123 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City.
Earlier in the day buildings across the city held preparation drills on the anniversary of the 1985 quake.
On Mexico City's main boulevard, thousands of people streamed out of buildings into the streets in a panic, filling the plaza around the Independence Monument with a mass of people.
Traffic came to a standstill, as masses of workers blocked streets. Clouds of dust rose from fallen pieces of facades.
Office workers hugged each other to calm themselves.
In the city's Roma neighborhood, which was struck hard by the 85 quake, small piles of stucco and brick fallen from building facades littered the streets.
Two men calmed a woman, blood trickling form a small wound on her knee, seated on a stool in the street, telling her to breathe deeply.
At a nearby market, a worker in a hard hat walked around the outside of the building, warning people not to smoke as a smell of cooking gas filled the air.
Market stall vendor Edith Lopez, 25, had been in a taxi a few blocks away when the quake struck. She said she saw glass bursting out of the windows of some buildings.
Mexico City's international airport says it has suspended operations.
The airport says in a tweet that airport personnel are checking the structures for damage. It's not immediately clear how many flights have been affected.
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