MEXICO CITY: A powerful 8.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Mexico late on Thursday, killing at least 32 people in what the president called the quake-prone country’s biggest one in a century.
The quake hit offshore in the Pacific at 11:49 p.m. (04:49 GMT), about 100 km from the coastal town of Tonala, in far southern Chiapas state, Mexico’s seismologic service said.
“It was a major earthquake in scale and magnitude, the strongest in the past 100 years,” said President Enrique Pena Nieto in an address from the National Disaster Prevention Center’s headquarters, where he was supervising the emergency response.
The quake was apparently stronger than a devastating 1985 temblor that flattened swathes of Mexico City and killed thousands, but this time, damage to the city was limited.
A number of buildings suffered severe damage in parts of southern Mexico. Some of the worst initial reports came from the town of Juchitan in Oaxaca state, where sections of the town hall, a hotel and other buildings were reduced to rubble.
Alejandro Murat, the state governor, said 23 deaths were registered in Oaxaca, 17 of them in Juchitan.
A spokesman for emergency services said seven people were also confirmed dead in the neighboring state of Chiapas. Earlier, Arturo Nunez, governor of Tabasco, said two children had died in his state.
Rescue workers labored through the night in badly affected areas to check for people trapped in collapsed buildings.
Windows were shattered at Mexico City airport and power went out in several neighborhoods of the capital, affecting more than 1 million people. The cornice of a hotel came down in the southern tourist city of Oaxaca, a witness said.
The tremor was felt as far away as neighboring Guatemala. The quake triggered waves as high as 0.7 meters in Mexico, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. Mexican television showed images of the sea retreating about 50 meters, and authorities evacuated some coastal areas.
The president said the tsunami risk on the Chiapas coast was not major. “We are alert,” he told local television.
More aftershocks were likely, the president said, advising people to check their homes and offices for structural damage and for gas leaks.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported multiple aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 4.3 to 5.7.
Classes were suspended in most of central and southern Mexico on Friday to allow authorities to review damage.
There was no tsunami threat for American Samoa and Hawaii, according to the US Tsunami Warning System. The national disaster agency of the Philippines put the country’s eastern seaboard on alert, but no evacuation was ordered.
“The house moved like chewing gum and the light and Internet went out momentarily,” said Rodrigo Soberanes, who lives near the Chiapas state city of San Cristobal de las Casas.
People in Mexico City, one of the world’s largest cities, ran out into the streets in pajamas and alarms sounded after the quake struck just before midnight, a Reuters witness said.
“I had never been anywhere where the earth moved so much. At first I laughed, but when the lights went out, I didn’t know what to do,” said Luis Carlos Briceno, an architect, 31, who was visiting Mexico City. “I nearly fell over.”
State oil company Pemex said it was still checking for damage at its installations.
President Pena Nieto said operations at the Salina Cruz refinery in the same region as the epicenter were temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure.
32 dead in Mexico’s biggest earthquake in a century
32 dead in Mexico’s biggest earthquake in a century
Regime change in Tehran? Putin says Iran is consolidating around its leaders
- “We see that today in Iran, with all the complexity of the internal political processes taking place there...that there is a consolidation of society around the country’s political leadership,” Putin says
ST PETERSBURG, Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Iranian society was consolidating around the Islamic Republic’s leadership when asked by Reuters if he agreed with Israeli statements about possible regime change in Tehran.
Putin was speaking as Trump kept the world guessing whether the US would join Israel’s bombardment of Iranian nuclear and missile sites and as residents of Iran’s capital streamed out of the city on the sixth day of the air assault.
Putin said all sides should look for ways to end hostilities in a way that ensured both Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear power and Israel’s right to the unconditional security of the Jewish state.
Asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks that regime change in Iran could be the result of Israel’s military attacks and US President Donald Trump’s demand for Iran’s unconditional surrender, Putin said that one should always look at whether or not the main aim was being achieved before starting something.
“We see that today in Iran, with all the complexity of the internal political processes taking place there...that there is a consolidation of society around the country’s political leadership,” Putin told senior news agency editors in the northern Russian city of St. Petersburg.
Putin said he had personally been in touch with Trump and with Netanyahu, and that he had conveyed Moscow’s ideas on resolving the conflict.
He said Iran’s underground uranium enrichment facilities were still intact.
“These underground factories, they exist, nothing has happened to them,” Putin said, adding that all sides should seek a resolution that ensured the interests of both Iran and Israel.
“It seems to me that it would be right for everyone to look for ways to end hostilities and find ways for all parties to this conflict to come to an agreement with each other,” Putin said. “In my opinion, in general, such a solution can be found.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday
that Moscow was telling the United States not to strike Iran because it would radically destabilize the Middle East.
A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry also warned that Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclar facilities risked triggering a nuclear catastrophe.
US starts evacuating some diplomats from its embassy in Israel as Iran conflict intensifies
- Those warnings have increased as the conflict has intensified, with the embassy in Jerusalem authorizing the departure of nonessential staff and families over the weekend
WASHINGTON: The State Department has begun evacuating nonessential diplomats and their families from the US embassy in Israel as hostilities between Israel and Iran intensify and President Donald Trump warns of the possibility of getting directly involved in the conflict.
A government plane evacuated a number of diplomats and family members who had asked to leave the country Wednesday, two US officials said. That came shortly before US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced on X that the embassy was making plans for evacuation flights and ships for private American citizens.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic movements.
“Given the ongoing situation and as part of the embassy’s authorized departure status, mission personnel have begun departing Israel through a variety of means,” the State Department said.
“Authorized departure” means that nonessential staff and the families of all personnel are eligible to leave at government expense.
There was no indication of how many diplomats and family members departed on the flight or how many may have left by land routes to Jordan or Egypt.
The evacuations, comments from the White House and shifting of American military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East have heightened the possibility of deepening US involvement in a conflict that threatens to spill into a wider regional war.
Trump has issued increasingly pointed warnings about the US joining Israel in striking at Iran’s nuclear program, saying Wednesday that he doesn’t want to carry out a US strike on the Islamic Republic but suggesting he is ready to act if it’s necessary.
The State Department also has steadily ramped up its warnings to American citizens in Israel and throughout the region, including in Iraq.
Last week, ahead of Israel’s first strikes on Iran, the department and the Pentagon put out notices announcing that the US embassy in Baghdad had ordered all nonessential personnel to leave and that the Defense Department had “authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the Middle East.
Those warnings have increased as the conflict has intensified, with the embassy in Jerusalem authorizing the departure of nonessential staff and families over the weekend and ordering remaining personnel to shelter in place until further notice.
The embassy has been closed since Monday and will remain shut through Friday.
Real Madrid wilt in Miami heat as Al-Hilal spoil Alonso’s debut
- A much-needed 30th-minute cooling break gave Real a chance to regroup, with players draping towels over their shoulders and gulping down rehydrating drinks in the sweltering heat
MIAMI: Real Madrid labored to a 1-1 Club World Cup draw against a spirited Al-Hilal in searing heat on Wednesday as Xabi Alonso’s managerial debut for the 15-time European champions delivered flashes of promise but ultimately felt like an exhibition match.
Gonzalo Garcia, stepping in for the fever-stricken Kylian Mbappe, gave Real an early lead with a composed finish, but Ruben Neves levelled from the spot before halftime as Simone Inzaghi’s men showed defensive grit and enough attacking intent to rattle their illustrious opponents.
A last-gasp missed penalty from Federico Valverde summed up a day when Real’s legs, and ideas, wilted in the heat and humidity at a nearly sold-out Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
RB Salzburg and Pachuca meet in the other Group H fixture later on Wednesday. Real will next face the Mexican side on Sunday, while Al-Hilal will take on Salzburg in what could prove a decisive clash for qualification to the knockout stage.
With Mbappe ruled out, it was the 21-year-old Garcia who led the line for Real and he did not disappoint, while new signing Trent Alexander-Arnold was nowhere near the level that persuaded the Spanish club to lure him from Liverpool.
It was Al-Hilal, however, who burst out of the blocks, swarming around the Real penalty area with early intent — though their finishing let them down at crucial moments.
In the 29th minute, Salem Al-Dawsari nearly produced a moment of magic, weaving his way into the box before Aurelien Tchouameni slid in with a crucial interception to steer the ball behind.
The Saudi side thought they had taken the lead shortly after, only for their celebrations to be cut short by an offside flag.
Despite the heat — and with the cheapest tickets in the stadium selling for over $160 while premium seats soared beyond $950 — a vibrant crowd kept the energy high.
A much-needed 30th-minute cooling break gave Real a chance to regroup, with players draping towels over their shoulders and gulping down rehydrating drinks in the sweltering heat. The short pause worked wonders.
Four minutes later, Real struck. A slick team move carved open the Al-Hilal defense, and Garcia showed composure beyond his years, delicately lifting the ball over Yassine Bounou after being teed up by Rodrygo.
But Al-Hilal refused to wilt. They drew level four minutes before halftime when Ruben Neves calmly slotted home a penalty after Raul Asencio pulled back Marcos Leonardo in the area.
On the stroke of halftime, Al-Dawsari went close again, firing narrowly wide after latching onto a clever pass from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to cap another flowing Al-Hilal attack.
Real stepped up a gear after the restart with substitute Arda Guler’s shot crashing against the bar before Bounou made a stunning reaction save to deny Garcia.
A second cooling break in the 68th minute did not refresh Real and although they continued to dominate, the Al-Hilal defense held firm.
Real were awarded a penalty after a VAR review when Mohammed Al-Qahtani’s flailing arm caught Fran Garcia in the last minute, only for Valverde’s soft spot kick to be saved by Bounou.
Iran says committed to diplomacy but acts in ‘self-defense’ against Israel
TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday his country has remained committed to “diplomacy” but will continue to act in “self-defense” following Israel’s surprise attack nearly a week ago.
“Iran solely acts in self-defense. Even in the face of the most outrageous aggression against our people, Iran has so far only retaliated against the Israeli regime and not those who are aiding and abetting it,” said Araghchi in a post on X.
“With the exception of the illegitimate, genocidal and occupying Israeli regime, we remain committed to diplomacy,” he added.
Putin says NATO rearmament not a ‘threat’ to Russia
- “We will counter all threats that arise. There is no doubt about that,” Putin said
- The military alliance is pushing members to increase their defense spending to five percent of GDP
SAINT PETERSBURG: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that NATO’s push to ramp up defense spending was not a “threat” to Russia, as Moscow had all the weapons it needed to defend itself.
The military alliance is pushing members to increase their defense spending to five percent of GDP, under pressure from US President Donald Trump.
“We do not consider any rearmament by NATO to be a threat to the Russian Federation, because we are self-sufficient in terms of ensuring our own security,” Putin told reporters, including AFP, at a televised press conference in Saint Petersburg.
He added that Russia was “constantly modernizing our armed forces and defensive capabilities.”
Though he conceded higher spending by NATO would create some “specific” challenges for Russia, the Kremlin leader said it makes “no sense” for NATO members themselves.
“We will counter all threats that arise. There is no doubt about that,” he said.
Putin has cast his offensive in Ukraine as part of a wider conflict between Russia and NATO.
Kyiv is seeking security guarantees from NATO as part of any deal to end the fighting, more than three years after Russia ordered its full-scale military offensive.
