Powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake hits southern Mexico and triggers tsunami warning as buildings shakes and hundreds flee their homes
- A 7.5 earthquake hit the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca on Tuesday morning
- One person died in the Oaxaca city of Crucecita
- The tremor eclipsed the September 19, 2019 earthquake in the central state of Puebla that killed 370 people and injured 6,011
- Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said no major damages were reported
- A tsunami alert has been issued for Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras
A strong earthquake hit Mexico on Tuesday in the southern state of Oaxaca, almost three years after a tremor in the central state of Puebla killed more than 300 people.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake’s magnitude was 7.7, while Mexico’s seismological institute put its strength at 7.5, according to Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
At least one person died in the Oaxaca city of Crucecita.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a tsunami alert for Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The US Pacific Tsunami warning center said waves as high as 10 feet could hit anywhere within 600 miles of the quake’s epicenter.
Mexican authorities confirmed two aftershocks that registered 5.2 and 4.3 on the Richter scale in Oaxaca.
Patients were led out of a clinic in Mexico City on Tuesday morning following a 7.5 earthquake that hit the southern state of Oaxaca
Residents in Mexico City stand outside their home after they evacuated as a precaution moments after a 7.5 tremor struck the southern state of Oaxaca
A 7.5 earthquake hit the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca on Tuesday at 10:29am. Authorities reported two more aftershocks that registered 5.2 and 4.2 on the Richter scale
López Obrador appeared on a local television station talking to a government official asking for an update on the nearby states and said that no major damages had been reported.
Oaxaca governor Alejandro Murat issued a statement indicating there ‘are no damages. We are united. We are well.’
He asked residents to check their homes and to call 911 if they noticed any structural damages.
The earthquake, which hit at 10.29am local time, shook buildings in the center of the capital Mexico City, hundreds of miles away and sending hundreds of people fleeing their homes into the streets.
Mexican television network Milenio showed a slab of concrete separating from an apartment building in the Mexico City neighborhood of Cuauhtémoc.
Inbound and outbound flights from Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City were temporarily halted. Images from local television stations showed hundreds of travelers milling outside the airport.
The earthquake surpassed the 7.1 tremor that shook Puebla on September 19, 2017, killing 370 people and injuring 6,011.