(CNN) Just north of Juchitan, in the city of Asuncion Ixtaltepec, neighbors gathered around the home of Eduardo Peralta, a father who they say died protecting his son during the magnitude 8.1 earthquake that shook Mexico Thursday.

Peralta's nephew told CNN en Español he found Peralta embracing his son inside their collapsed home. The father was dead, but the son survived and is being treated at a hospital, family members said.

Ninety people are now confirmed dead in the quake that struck off Mexico's southern coast. It was the most powerful to hit the country in a century and was felt as far as Mexico City and Guatemala City by an estimated 50 million people.

Many were asleep when the quake struck. The USGS reported multiple aftershocks, including at least six with tremors measuring above 5.0 in magnitude.

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The majority of the deaths were in Oaxaca state, where homes and buildings collapsed. Oaxaca's governor said Saturday that 71 people had died in his state, Oaxaca's Civil Protection agency said via Twitter.

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