‘Biggest earthquake in the history of the United States’: Officials say 1,500 people dead as ‘tens of thousands’ flee quake

SANTA FE, N.M. — The biggest earthquake in U.S. history was felt in parts of New Mexico as well as across much of the Midwest, and hundreds of thousands of people were without power.
The powerful quake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, shook about 100,000 people in the western part of the state, with many residents trapped under homes or cars as the shaking continued for hours.
The U.N. declared the quake a magnitude-5.0 quake, which makes it the largest since the 1906 Loma Prieta quake that killed more than 1,300 people and caused extensive damage to nearby communities.
Rescuers and emergency officials worked through the night to recover trapped residents from collapsed homes, but many people were still stuck in their homes as the quake shook the area.
Residents who escaped the quake were able to return to their homes Saturday night, and many had already packed up their belongings.
The quake shook Santa Fe County and several other counties and had been felt across the country.
The Santa Fe earthquake was the largest earthquake in more than 50 years.
It came just days after another major quake rattled Texas and Oklahoma, the third in less than two weeks.
The epicenter was located in the state’s north, where most of the quake was felt.
It was centered about 90 miles northwest of Albuquerque.
The largest earthquake since the Loma Subterranea quake in California killed about 4,000 and caused millions of dollars in damage, was followed by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in New Mexico, which killed more of the region’s residents.
The Loma subterraneae are a type of basalt that formed during earthquakes.