MEXICO: A powerful earthquake struck south-west Mexico near the Pacific beach resort of Acapulco on Tuesday night, killing at least one man who was crushed by a falling post, and causing buildings to rock and sway away in Mexico city nearly 200 miles away.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said a 7.0 magnitude quake struck 11 miles (18km) north-east of the resort of Acapulco, Guerrero, in the early hours of Wednesday sending people running into the street for safety.
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“We heard a loud noise from the building, noise from the windows, things fell inside the house, the power went out,” said Sergio Flores, an Acapulco resident who reached by phone. “We heard leaking water, the water went out of the pool and you heard people screaming, very nervous people.”
The mayor of Acapulco, Adela Román, said in a statement to the television news outlet Milenio: “There are nervous breakdowns, people are worried because there have been aftershocks, many gas leaks in many places” as well as some landslides and fallen walls.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said via Twitter that authorities in the four states that most felt the earthquake told him there was no serious damage beyond some collapsed walls and falling rocks.
The country’s civil defence agency said it was conducting reviews for the safety of residents and damage in 10 states.
The U.S. tsunami warning centre issued an alert following the quake, saying hazardous waves were possible within 185 miles (300km) of the quake site. The agency later updated their advice to say the threat had passed.
In Mexico City, around 230 miles (375km) from Acapulco, the quake caused the ground to shake for nearly a minute in some parts of the capital. In the Roma Sur neighbourhood of Mexico City, lights went off and scared residents rushed out. Residents huddled together in the rain, holding young children or pets, too worried to return to their homes in the dark.
“It was terrible. It really reminds me of the 1985 quake every time something like this happens,” said Yesmin Rizk, a 70-year-old Roma Sur resident.
