Damage in the Mexican state of Oaxaca following an 8.2-magnitude earthquake in September. Photo: Presidencia de la República Mexicana via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Tuesday thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Jewish state’s contributions to relief efforts following the recent major earthquakes in the North American country.

In a phone conversation with Netanyahu, Nieto said he “very much appreciates the quick Israeli effort and the work of the search and rescue mission,” according to Prime Minister’s Office.

An Israeli aid mission — comprised of approximately 70 soldiers and officers from the IDF’s Home Front Command and the Israeli Air Force — was dispatched to Mexico last month on the eve of Rosh Hashanah after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit about 76 miles southeast of Mexico City, killing hundreds. Israel organized the largest aid mission in Mexico, in addition to being the first country to arrive on the scene and the last to leave.

Earlier in September, Israel sent aid to Mexico following a previous 8.2-magnitude earthquake.