
At least 248 people are dead after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Mexico on Tuesday causing widespread devastation across Mexico City where a school has collapsed.

Twenty children and two adults were confirmed dead after being found in the debris of the Enrique Rebsamen school, with a further 30 children and eight adults still missing as of 2am Wednesday.

The tremor struck near the Puebla state town of Raboso, about 75 miles southeast of Mexico City, and came on the anniversary of another devastating earthquake in 1985.

It also came just days after another 8.1-magnitude earthquake which struck Chipas, killed at least 98 people, and hours after nationwide emergency practice drills.

Horrifying images coming out of the country's capital show rubble strewn across roads and enormous chunks of collapsed buildings laying on the ground with hundreds of terrified locals fleeing onto the streets.

Volunteer rescue worker Pedro Serrano, 29, a doctor, was one of the rescuers who managed to make it inside the collapsed school where he found a classroom with all of the occupants dead.

At least 248 people have been killed in Mexico after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck 75 miles southeast of Mexico City on Monday afternoon. Pictured is a school that collapsed during the tremor

Rescue workers celebrate as they pull a child alive from the remains of Rebsamen School where at least 20 children have been confirmed dead. 30 children and eight adults are still reported to be missing here

Government workers and volunteers worked through the night to try and uncover those trapped in the rubble, urging each-other to be quiet as they listened for cries coming from beneath tons of concrete

The quake happened just hours after nationwide practice drills, days after an 8.1-magnitude tremor struck the south of the country, and on the anniversary of another deadly quake in 1985

Rescue workers and volunteers search a building that collapsed in the Colonia Obrera neighborhood of Mexico City after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Raboso, a town south of the capital

In Mexico City, the Enrique Rebsamen school (pictured) collapsed, killing 20 children and two adults

Thousands of people flooded into the ash-covered streets following the disaster as power was cut to 40 per cent of Mexico City, and 60 per cent of Mexico state

Rescue personnel and volunteers work on a four-story building that collapsed after an earthquake in Mexico City

In this photo Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (center) visits the remains of the school. Another 30 kids and eight adults are still missing inside it

People in Atzala, Puebla, eight miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, walk by the bodies of nine people - some apparently children - killed by the powerful earthquake

Rescue personnel work on a building that collapsed after an earthquake in the Colonia Obrera neighborhood of Mexico City

Families took to the streets to bed down for the night, fearful to go back into their homes in case aftershocks caused the already damaged building to collapse on them

Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes as a result of the second deadly earthquake to strike Mexico in as many weeks

Rubble is scooped away by the ton from a a collapsed building in Atlixco, Puebla state

A car lies crushed flat by rubble in Jojutla, Morelos state. The body count continued to crawl up by the hour on Tuesday

The epicenter of the quake was close to the town of Jojutla, south of Mexico City, where this store appeared to have been partially swallowed by he ground

A machine works on a destroyed hotel after an earthquake hit Atlixco, in Puebla state. The town is located 60 miles southeast of Mexico City

Mexico City has borne the brunt of the damage, with buildings collapsing across the city and thousands left on the street

Volunteer rescuers, along with firefighters, policemen and soldiers, continued toiling as night fell on Mexico City, hoping to free those trapped in the rubble as quickly as possible

Rescuers both professional and volunteer remove rubble and debris from a flattened building in Mexico City in search of survivors, under the glare of a bright spotlight

Thousands of volunteers armed with nothing more than buckets and shovels have rushed to help sift through the rubble of Mexico City and help search for survivors

Working only in artificial light and wreathed in dust, firefighters and paramedics continue to clear rubble after the quake in Mexico City. They are raising their arms to call for silence so that they can listen for the cries of trapped people

Firefighters (seen top-right quadrant of the photograph) scape a collapsed building in the glare of a spotlight in their continuing search for survivors in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City

The North American and Cocos tectonic plates rub one another, creating friction that causes earthquakes - sometimes, as in the case of Tuesday's disaster, away from their edges. The September 7 earthquake is believed to be unconnected

This image from the US Geological Survey shows how various areas were affected as the shockwaves spread out across Mexico. Mexico City, being at the bottom of a former lake bed, was particularly badly hit

Donald Trump sent his thoughts, tweeting: 'God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you'

'We dug holes, then crawled in on our bellies,' Serrano said.

'We managed to get into a collapsed classroom. We saw some chairs and wooden tables. The next thing we saw was a leg, and then we started to move rubble and we found a girl and two adults - a woman and a man.'

Asked if there was hope of finding anyone alive, Serrano looked weary but said workers were still trying despite the danger.

'We can hear small noises, but we don't know if they're coming from above or below, from the walls above (crumbling), or someone below calling for help.'

MEXICO'S DEADLIEST RECENT QUAKES Tuesday's quake is one of the deadliest since 1985; here are the others: Sept. 19-20, 1985: Two earthquakes in western Mexico, one magnitude 8.0, kill at least 9,500 people in Mexico City and other parts of central and western Mexico. Oct. 9, 1995: Magnitude 8.0 quake near Manzanillo on central Pacific coast kills at least 51 people. Sept. 30, 1999: Magnitude 7.5 quake kills at least 20 people in southern state of Oaxaca. Jan 21, 2003: Magnitude 7.8 quake strikes western and central Mexico, killing at least 28 people, injuring 300 and leaving 10,000 homeless, many of them in the state of Colima. Sept. 7, 2017: Magnitude 8.1 quake hits southern coast of Mexico, killing at least 90 people and damaging or destroying thousands of houses and hundreds of schools. Advertisement

On Tuesday night, Donald Trump said on Twitter: 'God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you.'

His thoughts were echoed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said he was saddened by the loss of life and damage resulting from the earthquake in Mexico.

He extended his condolences to the government and people of Mexico and wished those injured a speedy recovery, according to a statement released by his spokesman.

The statement said the United Nations stands ready to assist Mexico following the quake, which has killed at least 139 people and devastated central Mexico.

Meanwhile, the government of Mexico has declared a state of disaster in Mexico City, freeing up emergency funds.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said he had ordered all hospitals to open their doors to the injured after the magnitude 7.1 quake.

As of late Tuesday 40 percent of Mexico City and 60 percent of Morelos state have no electricity, he said.

Pena Nieto also said that 20 children and two adults had died at a school that collapsed in the nation's capital.

Pena Nieto visited the school late Tuesday. He said in comments broadcast online by Financiero TV that 30 children and eight adults were still reported missing.

Rescue workers were continuing to search and listening for sounds from the rubble.

In a video message to the country, Pena Nieto urged the Mexican people to remain calm, and said that while many would need help, authorities had to focus on those trapped in wrecked buildings.

'The priority at this moment is to keep rescuing people who are still trapped and to give medical attention to the injured people,' he said.

Emergency workers gather around the remains of an apartment building which was reduced to rubble by the earthquake

A survivor grimaces in pain as he is stretchered out of a collapsed building. The death toll currently stands at 248

A man found underneath tons of collapsed rubble is given water by workers before being taken to hospital

Thousands of people have been injured in the quake, though official figures have yet to be reported amid widespread chaos

Workers have been holding up signs reading 'silencio' as they listen for the cries of people buried in the rubble

People in Mexico City react after the shocking earthquake. President Pena Nieto has told citizens to be patient and allow first responders and volunteers to free those trapped in buildings and help the injured before seeking help for other problems

Rescue workers are dwarfed by the size of this massive collapsed building in Mexico City

Teams of soldiers and police hack at fallen concrete walls with pickaxes and shovels in Mexico City

Rescue workers help a woman strapped to a stretcher down the rubble of a collapsed building

Rescuers haul away chunks of concrete and stone away with their bare hands as they struggle to reach those beneath

A firefighter uses a flashlight to check a tiny, cramped space for trapped civilians in Mexico City

Rescue workers look at their colleagues as they search for people under a Mexico City building

Bottled water is distributed to crowds in the wake of the earthquake, which has knocked out power across the capital

Rescue workers grip the hand of a man who was found alive underneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Mexico City

Men separated during the earthquake cry with joy as they are reunited safe and well after the earthquake struck

Nominations for the Latin Grammy Awards have been postponed after both the earthquake and the aftermath of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Latin Recording Academy President Gabriel Abaroa Jr said in a statement Tuesday that the delay comes 'as an outgrowth of the terrible and tragic recent natural disasters.'

Nomination announcements had been scheduled for Wednesday. No new date has been chosen yet.

Abaroa said the academy's 'thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by these catastrophic events and ones that may come.'

The Latin Grammy Awards ceremony is still scheduled for Nov. 16 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with a live telecast on Univision.

A woman holds a sign that reads 'Silence' as first responders remove the rubble of a collapsed building. Periods of silence were used by workers to hear the cries of those trapped beneath their feet

First responders raise their hands as a signal for silence as others listen out for victims on a ruined building

Crowds watch as a bulldozer is brought in to strip down a partially collapsed building in Mexico City

Rescue personnel climb into the ruins of a building in order to continue their search on Tuesday

A rescue dog puts its nose to work as it searches for people underneath a collapsed section of wall in Mexico City

Rescuers brave choking dust to locate and retrieve trapped people beneath a fallen section of wall comprised of cinderblocks and concrete

Members of the Navy of Mexico carry out rescue work in Mexico City following the massive quake. A state of emergency has been called by the country's government

Rescue workers and volunteers fan out over a neighborhood and its fallen buildings as they search for survivors

A car lays crushed under the collapsed Enrique Rebsamen school in Mexico City. The earthquake stunned central Mexico, killing more than 140 people

A car sits crushed, engulfed in a pile of rubble from a building felled by a 7.1 earthquake, in Jojutla, Morelos state, Mexico. Jojutla is close to the epicenter of the quake

Although Mexico City was badly hit in the earthquake, it wasn't the only area affected.

In the town of Jojutla in southern Morelos state, which was close to the epicenter of Tuesday's magnitude 7.1 quake, 12 people died a buildings - including the town hall and local church - collapsed.

The Instituto Morelos secondary school partly collapsed, but school director Adelina Anzures said the students were prepared as they had held an earthquake drill just two hours previously.

'I told them that it was not a game, that we should be prepared,' Anzures said of the drill. When the quake came, she said the children and teachers rapidly filed out.

'[The school] fell and everything inside was damaged,' she said. Nobody was hurt.

Dust rises over Mexico City on Tuesday. The photo was taken through a window in the iconic Torre Latinoamericana tower in downtown Mexico City

Residents of Mexico City work together to assist an injured man as he is moved out of a martially collapsed building by rescuers inside

After the buildings fell, volunteers took to the streets to help the injured and find survivors, while police and army were dispatched to secure buildings and dissuade looting

At least 44 buildings were toppled in Mexico City (pictured) alone, and still others damaged and crumbled elsewhere as the shockwaves spread out

A girl looks at a building that was knocked down by the earthquake in Mexico City. More than 100 people died in the earthquake and its related collapses and explosions

Rescuers and residents of the Colonia Condesa neighborhood look for victims amid the ruins of a building, while Mexico City police look on

Police and military secure the area outside a building that collapsed, while rescuers search for survivors amid the devastation

Dozens of rescuers dismantle the ruins of a destroyed building in the hopes of finding trapped survivors

A heavily damaged building appears to have collapsed backwards onto itself in this frightening image from Mexico City on Tuesday

A collapsed building stands buckled, cracked and crumpled after an earthquake. At least 44 buildings in the city were demolished in the natural disaster

Debris is seen in a parking lot after the earthquake struck the Mexican capital. This car is lucky - other photos show vehicles completely crushed by falling bricks and concrete

People gather around of the Angel of Independence monument after the earthquake. The monument has become a focal point for mass events in the city, whether celebrations, protests or - now - mourning

At around 7pm, people were using shopping carts from a nearby supermarket to carry away rubble in one Mexico City neighborhood after three apartment buildings collapsed on the same stretch of street.

Valerie Perez, a 23-year-old student from Venezuela, ran from her fourth-floor apartment just in time to see the building in front of it collapse.

Having only been in Mexico for one month, she was stunned by the day's events, which included an earthquake drill then a real one. Earlier in the day workplaces across Mexico City held readiness drills on the anniversary of the 1985 quake, a magnitude 8.0 shake, which killed thousands of people.

'A drill at 11am and an earthquake at 1pm,' she said. 'This is the most powerful thing I have ever seen in my life.'

At 8:35pm, rescuers were clawing through the rubble trying to rescue any children trapped when a southern Mexico City school teaching 1st through 8th grades partly collapsed.

Some relatives claimed they had received Whatsapp messages from two girls trapped inside the rubble, but that claim could not be confirmed.

These women managed to make it out of a building just before it collapsed - leaving them covered in dust

Rescuers look for survivors in a trapped building in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City. The quake measured a magnitude of 7.1, and occurred on the anniversary of another quake that killed thousands in 1985

Rescuers carry an injured man through crowds of shocked onlookers. Mexico City's inhabitants were shaken by the disaster, the epicenter of which was located several miles away in the neighboring state of Puebla

Smoke and dust can be seen rising to the heavens in this handout picture taken by local man Edgar Cabalceta shortly after the earthquake struck

A terrifying fireball was captured by a local in this shocking footage. Multiple gas leaks have been reported in the city due to fractured pipes

Mexican authorities said several fires had been reported across the massive city, which is one of the biggest in the world, with a population of 20 million people

This car was left crushed under falling debris during the 7.1-magnitude earthquake

Hospital patients who were evacuated from wards were taken outside in their beds as a safety precaution. The earthquake came on the anniversary of a devastating strike that occurred in 1985, killing thousands

As structures fell around her, local resident Georgina Sanchez, 52, said: 'I'm so worried. I can't stop crying. It's the same nightmare as in 1985'

Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said 50 to 60 people were rescued alive by citizens and emergency workers in Mexico City.

The federal interior minister, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, said authorities had reports of people possibly still being trapped in collapsed buildings. He said search efforts were slow because of the fragility of rubble.

'It has to be done very carefully,' he said. And 'time is against us.'

Mariana Morales, a 26-year-old nutritionist, was one many who spontaneously participated in rescue efforts.

She wore a paper face mask and her hands were still dusty from having joined a rescue brigade to clear rubble from a building that fell in a cloud of dust before her eyes, about 15 minutes after the quake.

Morales said she was in a taxi when the quake struck, and she out and sat on a sidewalk to try to recover from the scare. Then, just a few yards away, the three-story building collapsed.

Gala Dluzhynska was taking a class with 11 other women on the second floor of a building on the trendy Alvaro Obregon street when the quake struck and window and ceiling panels fell as the building began to tear apart.

She said she fell in the stairs and people began to walk over her, before someone finally pulled her up.

“There were no stairs anymore. There were rocks,” she said.

They reached the bottom only to find it barred. A security guard finally came and unlocked it.

'I could barely stand up. There was glass falling everywhere. I really thought the building was going to fall,' reporter Emily Green told NPR. "It was a terrifying experience.'

Much of Mexico City is built on former lakebed, the soil of which can amplify the effects of earthquakes centered hundreds of miles away.

Thousands of people evacuated from office buildings gather in Reforma Avenue. Throughout Mexico City, rescuer workers and residents dug through the rubble of collapsed buildings seeking survivors

Volunteers search a building that collapsed after an earthquake, crushing a taxi in the process

A view of three vehicles under piles of by debris following an earthquake that toppled buildings across the Mexican capital

An injured woman is tended to by a medic after being caught in the sudden earthquake

A doctor tends to a patient who was evacuated - like so many others - from hospital during the earthquake. The ill man has been hooked up to a breathing apparatus

Civil defence personnel and volunteers link arms in order to form a perimeter around the site where a building collapsed

Volunteers search a building that collapsed in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City, hauling rubble away in buckets and other makeshift containers

Bags of trash and rubble are tossed to one side by rescuers as they dig survivors out from underneath collapsed buildings

In the state of Morelos, just south of Mexico City, at least 42 people died, the state's governor said earlier Tuesday. Authorities reported other deaths in neighboring Puebla and the State of Mexico.

'People are really scared right now,' said dentist Claudia Meneses who was in her clinic in Mexico City's Lindavista neighborhood when the earthquake struck in the afternoon. 'We're going to go to a building that fell to see if we can help.'

At a nearby market, a worker in a hard hat walked around the outside of the building, warning people not to smoke as a smell of cooking gas filled the air.

Officials said that multiple fires had been reported in the city, and that the earthquake had caused widespread gas leaks. Twitter footage captured a massive fireball, several stories high, during the quake.

Market stall vendor Edith Lopez, 25, had been in a taxi a few blocks away when the earthquake struck. She said she saw glass bursting out of the windows of some buildings.

She was anxiously trying to locate her children, whom she had left in the care of her disabled mother.

This federal building was filmed swaying precariously during the earthquake. This photo afterwards shows how its facade fell away during the onslaught

People armed with shovels shift rubble and dust as they hurry to free victims trapped beneath a collapsed building in Mexico City on Tuesday

A man walks out of the door frame of a building that collapsed in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City after the massive earthquake rocked the area

A building can be seen left with its entire facade stripped away, exposing the rooms inside. Witnesses said glass exploded from tall buildings as the quake hit. On the right, volunteers and officials gather to help those trapped in a collapsed building

Police are seen having taped off a building whose upper floors collapsed completely onto its first floor during the earthquake

Patients evacuated from hospital buildings lie on their beds in the street following the earthquake, which caused many buildings to sway sickeningly and others to collapse completely

A doctor attends to an injured woman in the street in medico after the powerful earthquake

An injured man (left) is helped by medics, while more survivors are hunted (right) in the wreckage of a building

Police in riot gear are deployed to prevent looting and disorder. The US Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 7.1 while Mexico's Seismological Institute said it measured 6.8 on its scale

The 7.1 earthquake was too far from the larger quake 11 days ago to be an aftershock, and appears to be a separate and unrelated event, said US Geological Survey seismologist Paul Earle.

The epicenters of the two quakes are 404 miles apart and most aftershocks are within 62 miles, Earle said.

Tuesday's quake was at a known tectonic fault, but - unlike many strong earthquakes - it was not at the edges of two moving plates, Earle explained.

This fault was inside the Cocos plate, which about 300 kilometers further east slips under the North American plate. As that happens, there is a 'pulling apart motion' of the plates.

There have been 19 earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or larger within 250 kilometers of Tuesday's quake in the past century. Earth usually has about 15 to 20 earthquakes this size or larger each year.

Initial calculations show that more than 30 million people would have felt moderate shaking from Tuesday's quake. The US Geological Survey predicts 'significant casualty and damage are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread.'

The earthquake struck 5 miles southeast of Atencingo in the central state of Puebla at a depth of 32 miles

Rescuers clear rubble near a collapsed billboard sign after the earthquake struck Mexico City. There was another quake 11 days ago but a seismologist said that today's strike was too far away to be an aftershock

Workers tackle the collapsed building next to the billboard. Tuesday's quake was at a known tectonic fault, but - unlike many strong earthquakes - it was not at the edges of two moving plates

A man walks through the remains of what used to be a house in Mexico City, in the wake of the terrifying earthquake. Mexico City has 20 million inhabitants

People in the Roma Norte neighborhood of Mexico City briefly celebrate after rescuing two people from a building that collapsed during the earthquake

Rescuers lower and injured man (left) from a collapsed building. After the rescue they fell silent again, to better hear other trapped people. A woman can be seen right hugging a child outside a school

Horrifying images coming out of the country's capital show rubble strewn across roads and enormous chunks of collapsed buildings laying on the ground with hundreds of terrified locals fleeing onto the streets

Rescuers are seen working through piles of debris in Mexico City with the help of bystanders

Lazaro Frutis, a 45-year-old who escaped an office building before it crumpled to the ground, said: 'We ran outside thinking all was going to collapse around us.' Vehicles that have been destroyed by falling rubble are pictured

In the capital Mexico City, thousands of people streamed out of buildings into the streets in a panic filling the plaza around the Independence Monument with a mass of people.

Traffic came to a standstill as masses of workers blocked streets while clouds of dust rose from fallen facades.

Office workers were also seen hugging each other to calm themselves.

Mexico State Gov. Alfredo del Mazo told the Televisa news network that the earthquake had killed at least two people in his state, which borders Mexico City.

Del Mazo said a quarry worker was killed when the quake unleashed a rock slide, and another died when hit by a falling lamppost.

In Mexico City's Roma neighborhood small piles of stucco and brick fallen from building facades littered the streets.

At one site there, rescue workers cheered as they brought a woman alive from what remained of a toppled building.

After celebrating, the workers immediately called for quiet again so they could listen for the sound of survivors under the rubble.

The tremor hit just hours after emergency drills around the nation on the anniversary of a devastating quake that killed thousands in Mexico City in 1985

Locals are pictured clearing debris from the earthquake which left dozens of buildings collapsed - with metal and concrete sent falling to the ground

Clouds of dust rose from fallen facades following the dramatic tremor which sent panic throughout the capital city's 20million inhabitants

The impact of the quake ripped buildings to pieces with materials torn from structures by the force of the tremor

It comes just days after a powerful 8.1 quake hit Mexico killing at least 98 people. Locals are pictured helping a woman during today's incident

A bulldozer removes debris from a partially collapsed building after an earthquake in Mexico City

Two men calmed a woman, blood trickling form a small wound on her knee, seated on a stool in the street, telling her to breathe deeply.

Lazaro Frutis, a 45-year-old who escaped an office building before it crumpled to the ground, said: 'We ran outside thinking all was going to collapse around us.

'The worst thing is, we don't know about our families or anything.'

At a nearby market, a worker in a hard hat walked around the outside of the building, warning people not to smoke as a smell of cooking gas filled the air.

Market stall vendor Edith Lopez, 25, was caught up in the quake and said she saw glass bursting out of the windows of some buildings.

Mexico City's international airport says it has suspended operations due to the magnitude 7.1 quake that shook the central part of the country.

The airport says in a tweet that airport personnel are checking the structures for damage. It's not immediately clear how many flights have been affected.

Earlier this month, an 8.1 magnitude quake struck off the coast of Chiapas killing at least 98 people.

Streams of smoke were seen streaming from piles of collapsed buildings in the capital Mexico City

Mexicans were left shocked as the quake struck just hours after emergency drills

People fled for their lives after the earthquake struck the capital Mexico City

Today's quake hit 5 miles southeast of Atencingo in the central state of Puebla at a depth of 32 miles, the US Geological Survey said

The hardest-hit area was Juchitan, Oaxaca, where a third of the city's homes collapsed or were uninhabitable.

The remains of brick walls and clay tile roofs cluttered streets as families dragged mattresses on to pavements to spend another anxious night sleeping outdoors.

Members of the 'Topos' (Moles) specialised rescue team dug through piles of debris looking for folk's loved ones and hoping to find some that were still alive.

Soldiers of the Army and Navy also joined in on the search and rescue, hoping to locate the bodies still missing in the wreckage.

Pena Nieto declared three days of national mourning when he first broke numbers on the deaths associated with the earthquake

The epicenter of the earthquake was 123km southwest of the town of Pijijiapan.