Magnitude 8.2 earthquake hits off Mexico

Tsunami waves of 3.3 feet measured ​

At least 58 dead, including two children

Frightened Mexico City residents gather in streets

Blackouts in capital

The strongest earthquake to hit Mexico for decades left at least 58 dead and hundreds injured on Friday, after wreaking destruction on the country’s impoverished south and triggering tsunami alerts around the region.

Rescue workers were struggling to reach isolated rural communities across the worst-hit states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, many of them tucked high in rugged mountains.

The powerful quake damaged buildings as far away as Mexico City, where the iconic Angel of Independence swayed on its column and millions ran out of their homes amid intense tremors in the middle of the night.

It was also felt in much of Guatemala, where damage to buildings was reported.

Enrique Peña Nieto, the Mexican president, said the quake had registered a magnitude of 8.2, the strongest the country had suffered in more than a century; the US Geological Survey put it at 8.1.