People fled into the street in Mexico City after a 7.6 earthquake struck near La Placita de Morelos in western Mexico. Photo: AFP
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck western Mexico on the anniversary of two previous massive quakes, shaking buildings, knocking out power and sending residents of Mexico City scrambling on to the streets for safety.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a video address a person had died in the nearby Pacific port of Manzanillo after a wall collapsed in a store. Authorities also reported damage to two hospitals in the western state of Michoacan near the epicentre.
The powerful quake quake hit near the coast on the border region of the states of Michoacan the neighbouring state of Colima, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The quake was relatively shallow, at only 15km deep, which would have amplified the shaking.
The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for parts of Mexico's coast, saying waves reaching 1 to 3 meters above the tide level were possible.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were no immediate reports of damage in the capital after the tremors, which rumbled through Mexico on the same day as major quakes battered the country in 1985 and 2017.
"It's this date, there's something about the 19th," said Ernesto Lanzetta, a business owner in the Cuauhtemoc borough of the city. "The 19th is a day to be feared."
Power was knocked out in parts of the central Roma area of the capital, hundreds of kilometers northeast of the epicentre. Local residents cradling pets stood on the street, while tourists visiting a local market with a local guide were visibly confused and upset.
Traffic lights stopped working, and people clutched their phones, sending text messages or waiting for calls to get through.
In an earlier message before announcing the death in Manzanillo, Lopez Obrador had said there were no initial reports of fatalities but that there was material damage in areas near the epicentre. Images posted on social media showed buildings badly damaged.
Mexican authorities said the seismic alert had sounded nearly two minutes before the quake struck, giving residents time to evacuate their homes.
Still, some people in the capital struggled to believe it was a real quake as the government had already sounded the alarm earlier in the day as a practice exercise commemorating the past earthquakes that ravaged Mexico on that same September day.
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck near La Placita de Morelos in western Mexico. Photo: USGS
In Coalcoman, Michoacan - near the epicenter of the earthquake - pictures seen by Reuters showed shingles knocked off homes and building walls cracked by the force of the quake. In one store, merchandise was scattered across the floor.
Power was knocked out in parts of the central Roma area of the capital, some 400km from the epicentre.
Residents cradling pets stood on the street, while tourists visiting a local market with a local guide were visibly confused and upset. Traffic lights stopped working, and people clutched their phones, sending text messages or waiting for calls to get through.
Thousands of people were killed in the 19 September 1985 earthquake and more than 350 died in the 19 September 2017 quake.
- Reuters