Magnitude 7.2 quake strikes near Mexico City

Friday, April 18, 2014, 6:54 PM -

A powerful earthquake has struck south-central Mexico, at a time when many people are on vacation in the nearby Acapulco, only 275 km away from Mexico City.

The Magnitude 7.2 tremor struck at a depth of 49 km, and rattled buildings across the region for about 30 seconds. It was initially rated Magnitude 7.5, but revised downward.

High-rises were evacuated and broken glass and debris were reported in Mexico City, whose metropolitan area is home to more than 20 million people. 

Some walls cracked and fell, but there were no reports of major damage or casualties.

Although the quake was relatively far from the capital, the enormous city is built on the muddy sediments of drained lake beds, especially vulnerable to shaking.

It was felt across at least a half-dozen states and Mexico's capital, where it collapsed several walls and left large cracks in some facades. Debris covered sidewalks around the city.

Around the region, there were reports of isolated and minor damage, such as fallen fences, trees and broken windows. Chilpancingo, capital of the southern state of Guerrero, where the quake was centred, reported a power outage, but service was restored after 15 minutes.

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In 1985, a Magnitude 8.1 earthquake striking 250 km away killed 6,000 people in the capital.

It's been a nerve-wracking month for the region.

Earlier in April, an even more powerful Magnitude 8.2 tremor struck off the Chilean port of Iquique, killing six people and sparking tsunami alerts and watches along Latin America's entire Pacific coast.

With files from the Associated Press.