MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A strong earthquake shook central and southwestern Mexico on Tuesday night, with no reports of fatalities so far, but power outages and some road collapses, authorities said.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that amagnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred 17.7 kilometers northeast of the tourist city Acapulco, in the southwestern state of Guerrero.
"Fortunately there is no serious damage," the president said in a brief message to the nation.Andrés Manuel López Obrador. "Fortunately we do not have any information so far about loss of human life," he added.
The earthquake was felt, in addition to Guerrero, in other central and southwestern states. It was followed by several aftershocks that were felt in some areas.
Guerrero civil protection authorities explained that the earthquake, initially measured by the USGS with a magnitude of 7.4, caused rock falls and landslides on some roads, as well as some gas leaks.
It also caused damage to buildings in Acapulco, a Reuters witness said.
Meanwhile, the mayor of the populous Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, indicated on her Twitter account that there were no immediate reports of serious damage in the capital and that several overflights had been made. There were only electrical service failures in some areas.
Hundreds of people took to the streets of the capital despite the heavy rain. Some had nervous breakdowns when remembering the earthquakes of September 2017, which claimed the lives of dozens of people and caused serious damage in Mexico City and several southwestern states.
"This is horrible, every time the seismic alert sounds and an earthquake comes, you think you might die," said María Peña in the Polanco neighborhood, who was wearing pajamas and had a grandson in her arms. She also experienced a devastating earthquake in 1985.
The USGS said the quake was very shallow, just 12.5 kilometers below the surface, which would have amplified the shaking effect.
(Mexico editorial report. Written by Ana Isabel Martínez. Edited by Raúl Cortés.)
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