The 7. The epicenter of the 7. The natural disaster caused extensive damage across central Mexico, leveling at least 44 buildings, including homes, schools and office buildings, according to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who did a flyover of the capital Tuesday afternoon. The region was engaging in earthquake drills just hours before the quake struck Tuesday afternoon, on the 32nd anniversary of a earthquake that claimed thousands of lives in Mexico.
Pena Nieto said late Wednesday night that the priority in Mexico City was still saving lives. Search and rescue crews were working around-the-clock across the capital, with more than 50 people rescued from collapsed buildings there, according to the president.
The death toll following Tuesday's earthquake has surpassed and is expected to continue rising. Pena Nieto said more than 1, people have received medical attention thus far. At least 25 people -- 21 students and four teachers β died when a school collapsed in Mexico City's southern Coapa district. So far, 11 people there have been rescued, but two students and one teacher remain missing, according to Mexican Education Minister Aurelio Nuno.
Much of the rescue effort in the capital has focused on the Enrique Rebsamen primary and secondary school. Neighbors, police, soldiers and firefighters alike could be seen forming an assembly line, tirelessly clawing through the crumbled school all day Wednesday. They, along with anxious parents, are still hopeful after some families said they received text messages from relatives trapped beneath the debris, according to The Associated Press.
Overnight, as sheets of rain poured down on Mexico City, first responders continued an hours-long effort to rescue a student named Frida Sofia, Mexico's education minister told Televisa. Rescuers managed to contact Sofia and give her water and oxygen, the education minister said. She is trapped under a granite table or desk, which rescuers believe is giving her some protection from the school's collapsed concrete slabs. Sofia informed workers that there are two people trapped with her.
