A Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake rocked a small state in Guatemala leaving 39 dead and countless without homes. San Marcos, a mountain village 80 miles suffered most severely when 30 homes reportedly collapsed into rubble causing at least 7 people to be buried alive. Hit the Jump for more.
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President Otto Perez Molina told a news conference that he has been informed that the death toll stands at 39 people. The dead are in the northwestern state of San Marcos near the Mexican border, where the majority of the damage occurred.
The quake, about 20 miles deep, was centered about 15 miles off the coastal town of Champerico and about 100 miles southwest of Guatemala City, shaking buildings as far away as Mexico City and El Salvador.
Survivors by radio and social media talked of widespread landslides and people trapped.
“I’ve been in Guatemala for almost two years I am used to earthquakes. This was a lot more severe, a lot more shaky,” said Peace Corps volunteer Adam Baker, 27, of Carmel, Indiana, who tweeted a picture of a small landslide behind his house in the nearby state of Quetzaltenango. “Things fell in my kitchen.”
The Mayor of neighboring Mexico City said no serious damage or injuries had been reported in his city though many people fled their homes and offices during the earthquake. Thoughts and prayers go out to the displaced families caused by these natural disasters.
