MEXICO CITY — Mexico escaped major destruction from a magnitude-7.2 earthquake that jolted southern and central parts of the country, authorities said Saturday, though 13 people were killed in the crash of a helicopter sent to assess the damage.
A national emergency committee that convened after Friday’s quake adjourned in the afternoon after reporting 200 homes had been damaged, primarily in the southern state of Oaxaca, along with the city hall and main church in the town of Santiago Jamiltepec.
Two people sustained broken bones but had been treated in Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca, and their lives were not in danger, the Interior Department said in a statement.
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.
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.
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 northeast of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state.