A major earthquake occurred near the Pacific resort town of Acapulco on Tuesday evening, killing at least one person.
The US Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 8 km east-southeast of Pueblo Madero in the state of Guerrero, about 30 miles inland from Acapulco.
Guerrero state governor Hector Astudillo told Milenio Television late Tuesday that a person was killed by a falling post in the town of Coyuca de Benitez, near Acapulco.
“We heard loud noises from the building, noises from the windows, things falling into the house, the power went out,” said Sergio Flores, an Acapulco resident, who was reached by phone. “We heard water leak, the water ran out of the pool and you heard people screaming, very nervous people.”
Flores said he could only hug his wife when it started shaking. He saw people leaving hotels around the bay and some running into parking decks to remove their cars because they feared they would collapse.
“We were all concerned about a change in the sea, but so far the authorities have not said anything about a tsunami alert,” he said.
After Tuesday’s earthquake, people checked their cell phones outside Veracruz General Hospital.
(Felix Marquez / Associated Press)
Astudillo said the tsunami warning center had not registered any fluctuations in sea level. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later said the potential wave threat was over.
Acapulco mayor Adela Román said in a statement to television news agency Milenio that “the situation has not yet been really serious”.
“There are nervous breakdowns; People are concerned because there have been aftershocks, “she said, adding that there are” many gas leaks in many places, “as well as some landslides and collapsed walls.
Before the first death was reported, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said via Twitter that authorities in the four states where the tremors were strongest told him that apart from a few collapsed walls and falling rocks, there were no casualties or serious damage gave.
“Fortunately, there is no serious damage,” he said.
Mexico’s National Civil Protection said it is conducting audits in 10 states but has received no reports of casualties or serious damage.
In Mexico City, the ground shook for almost a minute in some parts of the capital, while the quake was less noticeable in others. Some people briefly evacuated their buildings, but most went back inside quickly on a rainy night.
“I was at home with my mother and my dogs and the earthquake alarm started to sound,” said Claudia Guarneros, makeup artist. “My mother was in another room and I started calling her. The house started moving and in the last part of the earthquake the power went out and we couldn’t see anything, we just saw a few things fall. “
Mexico City authorities said there were no initial reports of significant damage in the capital, despite a power outage in some neighborhoods. Several broken windows in a downtown skyscraper covered the sidewalk with glass.
Arturo Hernández stood in front of the relatively new house into which he had moved three years ago. Next to it was a taller building that had been abandoned since the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on September 19, 2017 in the neighboring state of Puebla, which caused great damage in the capital.
Hernández heard the seismic alarm and made it outside before the ground began to shake. The abandoned building next to his cracked and groaned for three minutes after the shaking stopped, he said. When asked if he was concerned about the damaged building next door, he said, “Always, always”.
Tuesday’s earthquake occurred exactly four years to the day after an 8.2 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, largely devastating the city of Juchitan in neighboring Oaxaca, killing dozens of people.
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