Big quake hits Papua New Guinea; no
damage reports
Published on Mar 22, 2012
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) - A strong magnitude-6.7 earthquake has rattled Papua New
Guinea.
There were no immediate reports of injury or damage from the Thursday morning temblor.
Chris McKee, the assistant director of the Geophysical Observatory in Port Moresby, says the earthquake
was centred deep enough that it could be felt widely but hopefully didn't do too much damage.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake struck at 8.15am local time (6.15am
Singapore time) and was centred 384km north of Port Moresby. The USGS estimated the earthquake's
center was about 105km below the ground.
At least 32,000 homes damaged in Mexico
quake
Published on Mar 22, 2012
Members of a family sleep outside their home in fear that aftershocks from Tuesday's 7.4 magnitude quake could cause their
home to collapse in Pinotepa Nacional in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, near the border with Guerrero, on Wednesday March
21, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP
CHILPANCINGO, Mexico (AFP) - At least 32,000 homes were damaged by an earthquake in southern
Mexico, but no one was killed and just 13 people were injured, authorities said.
Mr Angel Aguirre, governor of the southern Guerrero state, said on Wednesday that preliminary reports
indicated that 30,000 homes had been damaged, with 800 of them destroyed completely, by Tuesday's
powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake.
He added that a shelter had been set up for some 200 displaced families.
Mr Gabino Cue, governor of the neighboring Oaxaca state, reported that 2,000 homes had been damaged
as well as several public buildings.
The damage was more limited in Mexico City, but Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said some 250,000 people were
without running water because of severed pipes.
The earthquake - with its epicenter south of the Pacific resort of Acapulco - was the most powerful to hit
the country since one in 1985, which destroyed entire neighborhoods of the capital and killed thousands.
More than 40 aftershocks, some of up to 5.0 magnitude, shook the Mexican capital and southern areas in
the aftermath of Tuesday's earthquake, according to the National Seismological Service.