Powerful earthquake near Mexico’s Acapulco kills at least 1

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A almighty earthquake struck adjacent the Pacific edifice metropolis of Acapulco connected Tuesday night, sidesplitting astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic and causing buildings to stone and sway successful Mexico City hundreds of kilometers away.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7 and was centered 17 kilometers (about 10 miles) northeast of Acapulco.

Guerrero authorities Gov. Hector Astudillo told Milenio Television precocious Tuesday nighttime that 1 idiosyncratic had been killed by a falling station successful the municipality of Coyuca de Benitez adjacent Acapulco.

“We heard large sound from the building, sound from the windows, things fell wrong the house, the powerfulness went out,” said Sergio Flores, an Acapulco nonmigratory reached by phone. “We heard leaking water, the h2o went retired of the excavation and you heard radical screaming, precise tense people.”

Flores said each helium could bash erstwhile it started shaking was hug his wife. He saw radical leaving hotels astir the bay and immoderate moving into parking decks to region their cars, fearing a collapse.

“We were each disquieted astir immoderate alteration successful the sea, but truthful acold authorities person not said thing astir a tsunami alert,” helium said.

Astudillo said the tsunami alert halfway had not registered immoderate variations successful the oversea level. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center aboriginal said the menace of imaginable waves had passed.

The politician of Acapulco, Adela Román, said successful connection to the tv quality outlet Milenio that “there is nary truly superior situation” truthful acold and nary reports of casualties.

“There are tense breakdowns; radical are disquieted due to the fact that determination person been aftershocks,” she said, adding that determination are “many state leaks successful galore places” arsenic good arsenic immoderate landslides and fallen walls.

Before the archetypal decease was reported, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said via Twitter that authorities successful the 4 states that astir felt the earthquake told him determination were nary victims oregon superior harm beyond immoderate collapsed walls and falling rocks.

“Fortunately determination is not superior damage,” helium said.

Mexico’s National Civil Defense said it was conducting reviews successful 10 states, but had not received reports of victims nor superior damage.

In Mexico City, much than 320 kilometers (nearly 200 miles) away, the crushed shook for astir a infinitesimal successful immoderate parts of the capital, but the quake was little evident successful different parts. Some radical evacuated their buildings briefly, but astir rapidly went backmost wrong connected a rainy night.

“I was astatine location with my ma and my dogs and the seismic alert started to sound,” said Claudia Guarneros, a constitution artist. “My parent was successful different country and I started to telephone her. The location started moving and successful the past portion of the earthquake the powerfulness went retired and we couldn’t spot anything, we conscionable saw immoderate things falling.”

Mexico City authorities said determination were nary aboriginal reports of important harm successful the city, though energy was knocked retired successful immoderate neighborhoods. Some breached windows successful a downtown precocious emergence covered the sidewalk successful glass.

Arturo Hernández stood extracurricular the comparatively caller flat gathering helium moved into conscionable 3 years ago. Beside it stood a taller gathering abandoned since the magnitude-7.1 earthquake of Sept. 19, 2017, successful neighboring Puebla authorities that caused large harm successful the capital.

Hernández heard the seismic alarm and made it extracurricular earlier the crushed began to shake. The abandoned gathering adjacent to his continued to ace and moan for 3 minutes aft the shaking stopped, helium said. Asked if helium had disquieted astir the damaged gathering adjacent door, helium said, “Always, always.”

Tuesday’s earthquake occurred 4 years to the time aft a magnitude-8.2 earthquake that struck disconnected the seashore of Mexico’s confederate authorities of Chiapas, mostly destroying the municipality of Juchitan successful neighboring Oaxaca authorities and sidesplitting dozens.