A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the southwestern region of Mexico and triggered a tsunami warning along the coastline.
On Tuesday, the earthquake took place about 2.5 miles east-northeast of Los Órganos de San Agustín and 8 miles from the Pacific coast resort town of Acapulco, according to the US Geological Survey. The survey also indicated that the earthquake depth of 12 miles.
Civil protection authorities in Guerrero said the quake, initially measured at a magnitude of 7.4, caused rocks to fall and triggered landslides on roads.
The quake also rocked buildings as far away as Roman Sur, which is a neighborhood in Mexico City, 230 miles from Acapulco.
“It was terrible,” Yesmin Rizk, a 70-year-old Roma Sur resident, said, according to Reuters. “It really reminds me of the 1985 earthquake every time something like that happens.”
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there was no major structural damage in the capital.
Along with the earthquake, the US tsunami warning system has signaled that there is a potential tsunami threat, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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A number of earthquakes have affected the country of Mexico in recent years.
In November 2018, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake hit the Mexican state of California del Norte. The quake was 20 miles below the surface, while the strike was 36 miles southeast of Mexicali. There were no injuries or casualties in the earthquake.
In September 2017, an 8.1 magnitude earthquake hit Mexico, killing nearly 60 people. The earthquake’s epicenter was off the coasts of Mexico and Guatemala and it struck at a depth of 43.3 miles.
The aftershocks of the earthquake varied between magnitude 4.3 and 5.7, making it the largest earthquake to hit the region in nearly 100 years.
David Galloway of the British Geological Survey spoke to Newsweek in 2017 regarding this earthquake.
“A magnitude of 8.1 is a major earthquake, and I’m not surprised there’s a lot of damage,” Galloway said at the time. “I think there will be more reports of people killed and injured over time as we get more information.”
“Communications are often interrupted during large earthquakes. So far we have reports of 15 dead and many more injured, but I expect that figure to rise,” Galloway told the time.
Galloway also said the 8.1 quake caused buildings to collapse due to stress from rocks and aftershocks.
The largest earthquake ever recorded in the region was an 8.6 magnitude in Oaxaca in 1787. Two subsequent earthquakes of magnitude 8 or greater were recorded in the 20th century, an 8.1 magnitude in 1932 and a magnitude of 8 in 1985. The 1985 earthquake struck near the capital city of Mexico City, killing thousands and injuring hundreds.
Newsweek contacted Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum for further comment.
