A magnitude 7.1 earthquake on the Richter scale struck Tuesday night in southeastern Mexico, the National Seismology Center said, with authorities reporting one death and some damage in a first time.

The earthquake was recorded at 01:47 GMT this Wednesday morning and had its epicenter 11 km southeast of Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero, southeast of Mexico, according to the National Seismological Service.

So far, three aftershocks have been recorded, the strongest being magnitude 5.

"A man died because a pole fell on him in the municipality of Coyuca de Benítez", in the state of Guerrero (south-east), the governor of the municipality, Héctor Astudillo, told Milenio TV.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a message that only "stones fell from the walls, the same in Morelos (center), no damage in Oaxaca (south), no damage in Puebla (center)" and no damage in Mexico.

Numerous gas leaks in Acapulco

The mayor of Acapulco, Adela Román, reported that "people have had nervous breakdowns and are worried because aftershocks are possible". She also said that "numerous gas leaks" had been reported in residential areas. An AFP correspondent in that city reported that streetlights fell and crushed vehicles on Avenida Costera, and that the facade of a church collapsed.

Outside a hotel, a tourist was trying to recover from the shock by hugging his 86-year-old mother who was crying.

"I was taking a bath and suddenly I felt a very strong movement, I was scared and I screamed," said Sixto, a resident of Mexico on vacation in Acapulco, who came out wearing a towel. bath.

“I am with my mother and we were on the 11th floor of the hotel (…) I think the hotel was really damaged,” he added.

A shake of less than a minute

“So far, no serious damage has been reported,” for her part, wrote Claudia Sheinbaum, mayor of Mexico City, on Twitter. “We had a few power cuts, but nothing serious. The metro and metrobus are still working, ”Omar Garcia, head of the citizen security secretariat, told Milenio TV. In central Mexico City, in a neighborhood of La Condesa near the private La Salle University, people evacuated houses and buildings.

The shock lasted less than a minute and was felt strongly throughout the capital.

Earthquake warning sirens sounded in the city.

Video footage taken at the Mexico City airport showed the magnitude of the shaking, with electronic display panels swaying strongly.

Significant tremors were reported in several states, including Michoacan (west), Morelos (center), Oaxaca (south) and Veracruz (central-east), according to Mexican media.

The last major earthquake in Mexico (also of magnitude 7.1) occurred on September 19, 2017 and killed 369 people.

In 1985, an earthquake of magnitude 8.2 on the Richter scale caused the deaths of 10,000 people.

Some 30,000 others were injured.

World

Nearly 2,200 dead after the earthquake in Haiti, difficulties in delivering disaster relief

World

Tsunami warning lifted in Alaska after magnitude 8.2 earthquake

  • World

  • Mexico

  • Earthquake

  • Earthquake