The strongest earthquake to hit Mexico in a century has left at least 26 people dead, sparked mass evacuations and prompted warnings of tsunamis across the region.

The magnitude 8.2 quake struck 100 miles (165km) west of the state of Chiapas just before midnight on Thursday local time. The governor of the southern state of Oaxaca said that 20 people were killed in the region. A further four people were confirmed dead in Chiapas, and two in Tabasco state. The Tabasco governor, Arturo Núñez, said the two dead were children. One died after a wall collapsed and the other, a baby, died in a children’s hospital that lost electricity.

Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, tweeted: “Sadly, there are reports that people have died. My deepest condolences to their families.” The president said he had asked for updates from the National Disaster Prevention Centre, and the authorities were monitoring the situation and would meet immediately to coordinate their response to the quake. He said at least 1 million people had been left without electricity after the quake, but power had since been restored to 800,000 of them. He urged people to be vigilant and to check gas supplies as well as walls and columns.(theguardian)…[+]