6.2 Quake Jolts Southwestern Mexico, No Damage or Casualties

People wait outside their homes and buildings after an alarm sounded warning of a tremor, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Henry Romero
People wait outside their homes and buildings after an alarm sounded warning of a tremor, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Henry Romero
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6.2 Quake Jolts Southwestern Mexico, No Damage or Casualties

People wait outside their homes and buildings after an alarm sounded warning of a tremor, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Henry Romero
People wait outside their homes and buildings after an alarm sounded warning of a tremor, in Mexico City, Mexico, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Henry Romero

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck a region in southwestern Mexico early Sunday, according to the United States Geological Survey, causing no serious damage or casualties.
It said the quake was centered 21 kilometers (13 miles) southeast of Aquila near the boundary of Colima and Michoacán states at a depth of 34 kilometers (21 miles), The Associated Press reported.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on social media platform X that the quake prompted emergency response teams to review their protocol.
“There are no new developments,” she wrote. Mexico’s Social Security Institute said there were no reports of damage in the capital of Mexico City, some 600 kilometers (372 miles) east of the temblor's epicenter — near the mountainous village of Coalcomán, Michoacán.
Some people in Coalcomán and in Uruapan, the second largest city in Michoacán, posted surveillance footage on social media time-stamped at 2:32 a.m. local time that showed buildings sway and parked cars shake. Others reported that they ran into the streets to wait for the shaking to stop.
Mexico’s national seismological service said that as of 9 a.m. local time on Sunday, there had been 329 aftershocks. It put the magnitude at 6.1. It is not unusual for preliminary measurements to vary.
Mexico is no stranger to earthquakes because of its position near colliding sections of the earth’s crust. In the past 40 years, there have been at least seven magnitude 7 or greater temblors, killing around 10,000 people — most of them in a devastating 1985 8.0 quake.



German-Iranian Women’s Rights Activist Released from Iranian Prison

09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)
09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)
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German-Iranian Women’s Rights Activist Released from Iranian Prison

09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)
09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)

Nahid Taghavi, an Iranian-German women's rights activist, has been released from prison and is back in Germany after more than four years incarceration in Iran, Amnesty International said on Monday.

The release of Taghavi followed concerns about the 70-year-old's health and calls from rights groups on the German government to pressure Tehran on the case.

Taghavi was detained in October 2020 during a visit to Tehran and later sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison for her alleged involvement in an illegal group and for propaganda against the state. Amnesty called the charges fabricated

"My mum is finally home. Words are not enough to describe our joy. At the same time, we mourn the four years we were robbed of and the horror she experienced in Evin prison," her daughter Mariam Claren said in a statement.

The rights group said Taghavi was tortured during her time in prison and held in solitary confinement.

The activist landed safely in Germany on Sunday, Amnesty said, calling for many more releases to follow in Iran.

Iran's judiciary was not immediately available for comment.

"A great moment of joy that Nahid Taghavi can finally embrace her family again," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a post on X.

Germany has clashed with Iran in the past over its jailing of dual citizens and criticized its human rights record. In October, Berlin recalled its ambassador to Iran over the execution of German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd.

Last week Iran freed Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, three weeks after she was detained in Tehran during a reporting trip.