A 5.9-magnitude Earthquake Shakes Southern Mexico

People wait outside their homes and buildings after a tremor was felt in Mexico City, Mexico, October 6, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Romero
People wait outside their homes and buildings after a tremor was felt in Mexico City, Mexico, October 6, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Romero
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A 5.9-magnitude Earthquake Shakes Southern Mexico

People wait outside their homes and buildings after a tremor was felt in Mexico City, Mexico, October 6, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Romero
People wait outside their homes and buildings after a tremor was felt in Mexico City, Mexico, October 6, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Romero

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake shook southern Mexico Friday night, setting off alarms as far away as Mexico City, but without immediate reports of damage.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake occurred shortly after 11 p.m. local time near the town of Matias Romero in the southern state of Oaxaca. It was at a depth of 67 miles (108 kilometers).
Oaxaca state’s civil defense agency said it was monitoring for reports of damage, reported The Associated Press.
Strong shaking was felt in Oaxaca's capital. At a packed amphitheater, the band stopped performing and was ushered off the stage, but the crowd appeared to remain calm.
Oaxaca Gov. Salomón Jara Cruz urged calm via the social media platform X and said that state officials were checking for impacts from the earthquake across the state.
In the neighboring state of Veracruz, the civil defense agency said the earthquake was felt in areas, but that there were no initial reports of damage or injuries.
The temblor triggered seismic alarms in Mexico City, driving residents into the streets, but in most areas shaking was not felt.



Aid Group: More than 10,000 Migrants Died this Year Trying to Reach Spain by Sea

FILE - Migrants crowd a wooden boat as they sail to the port in La Restinga on the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Maria Ximena, File)
FILE - Migrants crowd a wooden boat as they sail to the port in La Restinga on the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Maria Ximena, File)
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Aid Group: More than 10,000 Migrants Died this Year Trying to Reach Spain by Sea

FILE - Migrants crowd a wooden boat as they sail to the port in La Restinga on the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Maria Ximena, File)
FILE - Migrants crowd a wooden boat as they sail to the port in La Restinga on the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Maria Ximena, File)

More than 10,000 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea this year, a report released by a Spanish migration rights group said on Thursday.
On average, that means 30 migrants died every day this year attempting to reach the country by boat, Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said. Overall deaths rose 58% compared to last year, the report added, according to The Associated Press.
Tens of thousands of migrants left West Africa in 2024 for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago close to the African coast that has increasingly been used as a stepping stone to continental Europe.
Caminando Fronteras said most of the 10,457 deaths recorded up until Dec. 15. took place along that crossing, the so-called Atlantic route — considered one of the world's most dangerous.
The organization compiles its figures from families of migrants and official statistics of those rescued. It included 1,538 children and 421 women among the dead. April and May were the deadliest months, the report said.
Caminando Fronteras also noted a “sharp increase” in 2024 in boats leaving from Mauritania, which it said became the main departure point on the route to the Canary Islands.
In February, Spain pledged 210 million euros (around $218 million) in aid to Mauritania to help it crack down on human smugglers and prevent boats from taking off.
Spain’s interior ministry says more than 57, 700 migrants reached Spain by boat until Dec. 15 this year, a roughly 12% increase from the same period last year. The vast majority of them came through the Atlantic route.