Southwest Mexico was hit by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake on Monday, instigating evacuations after killing one person and causing swaying of buildings in the capital.
Exactly five years ago, a deadly tremor killed 370 people in the same region in 2017 and there was another strong earthquake in 1985.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Monday earthquake was near La Placita de Morelos in Michoacan state along the Pacific Coast about 475 kilometers (295 miles) west of Mexico City.
The earthquake hit at 1:05 p.m. in the capital, and Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said no initial issues had been reported. The governor of Jalisco state, which was also affected, said no major damage had been reported.
Workers were evacuated in the downtown area and business district along Mexico City’s Reforma just moments after people gathered for the annual commemoration of the anniversary of two other deadly quakes.
The Monday quake marked the third the country has experienced on this date. About 1.2 million users in five states had power issues, according to state utility CFE.
According to a statement from the utility, electricity was restored for sixty-eight percent of those users within hours. The state oil company Pemex had no reports of damage at its installations.
The earthquake comes after Hurricane Fiona made landfall on Puerto Rico on Sunday, wiping out power and plunging the island into darkness.
Warnings of possible tsunami threat for the coast of Mexico
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center asked people located in the threatened coastal areas of Mexico to remain alert, stressing that hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coasts located within three hundred kilometers of the epicenter.
In a video posted to his social media accounts, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said, “We’re going to start compiling information and hope with all our hearts that nothing serious has happened.”
One person perished when a department store ceiling collapsed in Manzanillo in the state of Colima on the Pacific coast, said Laura Velazquez Alzua, the coordinator of the national civil protection agency.
Velazquez said one person in Michoacan was injured by falling glass in a rural hospital, and homes suffered structural damage in Manzanillo. Two hospitals that were also impacted by the quake are still under inspection.
It was announced yesterday that the storm strengthened into hurricane status, and U.S. territory was also hit with life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.
The deadly weather front was about fifty miles south of the city of Ponce with maximum sustained winds at nearly eighty miles per hour, thereby clearing the threshold for hurricane strength, the NHC said.
Torrential rains and mudslides were also forecast for the Dominican Republic, as the storm progresses towards the northwest.
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