Guatemala quake kills 48, leaves 23 missing

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocked southwestern Guatemala on Wednesday, killing 48 people and injuring another 150 while more were missing as homes crumbled, AFP reports. The earthquake also rattled nerves in neighboring Mexico and El Salvador, sparking a tsunami alert on the Salvadoran coast and evacuations from offices, homes and schools as far north as Mexico City. "We have to lament the death of 48 people, a figure that could rise because we still have 23 missing people," President Otto Perez said in the capital after visiting the disaster area. He had earlier reported 39 deaths. Perez said 39 of the victims were in San Marcos department, located at the border with Mexico and some 250 kilometers (155 miles) west of Guatemala City. The nine others were in two other regions that are also majority Maya. In the village of San Cristobal Cucho, an entire family of 10 died when their home was buried in rocks and earth that slid from a hill after the earthquake, Mayor Pedro Cardona said. "The whole village is in mourning because an entire family was taken by God's nature," he told local television. "What can we do?" The bodies of a couple, their six children ages four to 15 and two other family members still on the street into the night, awaiting to be put in coffins. Some 16,000 people were affected by the earthquake, Perez said. Several towns lacked drinking water or electricity in the country's most violent earthquake since 1976, when almost 23,000 people perished. Authorities opened 11 shelters that can house 800 people. The city of San Marcos, a town dotted with colonial-style, single-floor homes, was pitch black while the main street was covered in debris. Older homes were in pieces but newer ones withstood the shock. Several aftershocks rattled residents, who used lamps to look for pillows and covers in what was left of their homes to keep warm during the night. Rescuers workers and residents dug into a sand quarry in a desperate search for survivors. "We feel powerless in front of this quantity of sand, which fell on people, and not being able to dig them out quickly," 30-year-old social worker Alfonso told AFP. "You feel like your hands won't reach people." Ofelia Guzman, 28, was relieved after her mother escaped unscathed even though her home collapsed. "The home is destroyed and all her things are gone. Not one cup made it, but she is safe," Guzman said. The US Geological Survey said the quake struck in the morning (1635 GMT) off the Pacific coast, some 24 kilometers south of Champerico and 163 kilometers west-southwest of Guatemala City. The depth was 41.6 kilometers. The Mexican Seismological Service reported dozens of aftershocks. The quake was strongly felt in Guatemala City and southern Mexico. People streamed out of homes, schools and office buildings all the way to Mexico City, but the sprawling metropolis of 20 million people avoided damage or casualties. The capital city's metro service was briefly suspended. Buildings were also evacuated in the southern Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, without reports of damage or victims. "I was scared. It was horrible," said Uvita Mena, who lives in the Chiapas town of Tuxtla Gutierrez. The USGS had initially measured the quake at magnitude 7.5. In El Salvador, President Mauricio Funes ordered evacuations in western coastal towns following a tsunami alert but the waves never materialized. The event came two months after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake rocked Costa Rica, without causing any casualties or injuries.