Michoacan Town Hardest Hit in Quake

Nearly every building was damaged or destroyed. The grammar school was split in two. And the 45-foot bell tower at the Roman Catholic church was bent.

As officials reviewed Sunday’s aftermath from an earthquake in central Mexico, they found most of the damage concentrated in the Pacific Coast state of Michoacan--particularly in the small town of Arteaga.

Nationwide, there were no casualties. Other states suffered only minimal damage in Saturday’s quake: smashed windows, a few cracked walls and some fallen advertising signs.

But Arteaga was devastated, though the extent of the damage didn’t become known to government officials until Sunday because of the town’s poor communications.

“There are no human casualties, thank goodness. But building after building [is] all destroyed,” Arteaga Mayor Herminio Garcia Rueda said Sunday.

The 7.3-magnitude quake at 2:30 p.m. lasted less than a minute and was centered in the Pacific Ocean.

Arteaga is located 25 miles from the beach resort of Playa Azul, nearest to the epicenter. Playa Azul suffered minor damage, but nearly all of the 2,100 buildings in Arteaga were either leveled or damaged beyond repair.

The Red Cross and other rescue organizations said they had no reports of major damage or injuries in areas hit--Jalisco, Michoacan and Guerrero states and the Mexico City region.