Powerful earthquake strikes southwest Mexico

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According to CNN, A powerful earthquake struck the southwest of Mexico late Tuesday, causing widespread shaking as far away as Mexico City and killing at least one person.

The United States Geological Survey said the 7.0 magnitude quake struck 2.5 miles east-northeast of Los Órganos de San Agustín, about eight miles from the Pacific Coast beach resort city of Acapulco. It was measured at an initial depth of 7.8 miles. At least 92 aftershocks were recorded, including one with a magnitude of 5.2, the Mexican State Civil Protection Secretariat said.

In Mexico City, alarms could be heard shortly before the ground started shaking. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration initially issued a tsunami warning, but it was later called off.
The lone fatality reported was a 19-year-old man named Eliodoro Hurtado, who died in the Mexican state of Guerrero.

Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were no initial reports of major damage in the capital, which is about 231 miles from the epicenter. In a post on social media, Sheinbaum said that many people had lost electricity and authorities were working to restore power. The city’s metro service said in a statement that train services had been resumed following a safety review.

Earthquakes are not uncommon in Mexico because of their location at the edge of the North American tectonic plate. Two major quakes struck the country in September 2017, and on September 19, 1985, a magnitude-8.0 temblor killed an estimated 9,500 people in and around Mexico City.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said there was no “significant damage” in Guerrero state, where Tuesday’s epicenter is located. While serious damage has not yet been reported from the epicenter, Lopez Obrador said authorities did receive reports of falling rocks.