Rescuers frantically searched through the rubble of collapsed schools, homes and apartment buildings early Wednesday after Mexico’s deadliest earthquake since 1985 killed at least 217 people.

The quake struck at about 2:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday and had a magnitude of 7.1, the U. S. Geological Survey said. Its epicenter was in the state of Puebla, about 80 miles southeast of Mexico City.

It came less than two weeks after a magnitude-8.1 quake hit the country and killed nearly 100.

Mexico’s National Civil Defense agency put the death toll at 248 early Wednesday, but later reduced the number to 217. The reasons for this discrepancy were not immediately clear.

Dozens of buildings tumbled into mounds of rubble or were severely damaged in densely populated parts of Mexico City. Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said buildings fell at 44 places in the capital alone as high-rises across the city swayed sickeningly.

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Photo: open sources