6.5 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Southern And Central Mexico, Killing 2
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A strong earthquake It shook southern and central Mexico on Friday and interrupted the President Claudia Sheinbaum gave his first press briefing of the new year as seismic alarms went off and at least two people lost their lives.
The epicenter of the 6.5-magnitude earthquake was near the town of San Marcos in the southern state of Guerrero, near the Pacific coast resort town of Acapulco. Mexican ‘s national seismology agency. There were over 500 aftershocks.
The state’s civil defense agency reported several landslides around Acapulco and on other highways in the state.
Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado said that a 50-year-old woman living in a small community near the epicenter of the earthquake died when her house collapsed. Authorities also said a hospital in Chilpancingo, Guerrero’s capital, suffered major structural damage and several patients were evacuated.
When the earthquake started, residents and tourists in Mexico City and Acapulco flocked to the streets. Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada said one person died when he fell while evacuating a building after suffering an apparent medical emergency.
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The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake occurred at a depth of 21.7 miles (35 kilometers), 2.5 miles north-northwest of Rancho Viejo, Guerrero, in the mountains about 60 miles northeast of Acapulco.
Sheinbaum continued his press conference shortly after the earthquake.
José Raymundo Díaz Taboada, a doctor and human rights activist who lives on one of the peaks surrounding Acapulco, said he heard a loud rumbling sound and all the dogs in the neighborhood started barking.
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“At that moment, the seismic alarm started ringing on my mobile phone and then a strong shaking started to be felt along with a lot of noise,” he said.
He said the shaking was milder than previous quakes and that he was packing a backpack to be ready to go while aftershocks continued.
He said he could not reach some of his friends living in Costa Chica, southeast of Acapulco, because communication was cut off.
