Quake damages PH Embassy in Mexico, but Filipinos unhurt

People search for survivors in a collapsed building in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. A powerful earthquake has jolted Mexico, causing buildings to sway sickeningly in the capital on the anniversary of a 1985 quake that did major damage. (AP Photo/Enric Marti)

The 72 Filipinos living in Mexico City were unhurt in the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit Mexico at noon on Tuesday, leaving at least 226 people dead.

Philippine Ambassador to Mexico Eduardo de Vega on Wednesday reported that he and 11 embassy staff rushed out of the building when debris started falling. No one was injured, he said.

The Philippine Embassy, which occupies the first two floors of an eight-story office building in Mexico City’s Cuauhtemoc neighborhood, was damaged.

It confirmed that 60 other Filipinos residing in Mexico City were safe.

“We are all a bit shaken but otherwise all of us from the embassy are all right,” De Vega told the Department of Foreign Affairs.

In Manila, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella extended sympathies to the Mexican government and its people.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Mexico, especially the bereaved families, who were hit and affected by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake,” he said in a statement.

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, who was in New York to attend the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, said the people of Mexico “are again in our thoughts and prayers today.” —With a report from the Associated Press