Memorials have sprung up amid the dust and rubble of Mexico's capital following the devastating 7.1-magnitude earthquake.

More than 350 people died in the disaster on September 19, with Mexico City the worst affected.

In an attempt to come to terms with their loss, people across the city have been creating visual tributes to remember the victims.

In front of the Tecnologico de Monterrey university campus on the south side of Mexico City, stuffed plush toy rams - the university's mascot - were laid under handwritten messages to five students who died.

Isaias Medina, 33, visited the memorial with his wife, young son and daughter.

Mr Medina's children attend school just yards away from the campus, and when the quake struck he rushed to pick them up. They were safe, but falling walkways and walls killed the five college students.

"I was very sad to see the buildings all cracked up in places," Mr Medina recalled.

"For us, as a family, there is sadness. What happened is a tragedy that you feel in your heart, your soul," he added. "But now let's move forward. As they say, 'Be strong, Mexico,' and we'll get through this."

To the north, white flowers and wreaths were piled up at a previously existing statue of a family, a block or two from where a wing of a school building collapsed, killing 19 children and seven adults.

Some had taped images of Roman Catholic saints and psalms to a wall, and star-shaped balloons and stuffed animals topped the statue.

The plight of the children trapped in the Enrique Rebsamen school attracted international attention during the rescue effort, and messages of support poured in from abroad - including from one of football's biggest stars.

Lionel Messi, who plays for Barcelona, recorded a video dedicated to Leonardo Farias, eight, who was rescued from the school.

"Hello Leo. I wanted to send you a big hello and wish you all the luck. Take good care of yourself," he said.

At the site of a six-storey apartment building that collapsed, killing a dozen people, the first names of those who died in the building were scrawled on a sheet of plywood fencing.

On Peten Street, where a seven-floor apartment building collapsed, volunteers left construction helmets they had used during rescue efforts atop a flag at a shrine on the now-cleared lot.

Meanwhile, where a five-storey office and factory near the city centre once stood, people left flowers and testimonials scattered among the five-gallon buckets that were used to carefully remove debris in the first days of the rescue.

Colourful strips of cloth memorialised the clothing workers who died there.