Quake near south-western resort of Acapulco shakes buildings and halts traffic in Mexico City
A major earthquake of 7.6 magnitude has struck Mexico's Pacific coast, 120 miles east of the resort of Acapulco.
The US Geological Survey located the epicentre of the quake at 15 miles east of Ometepec, in Guerrero state, at a depth of 10.9 miles.
The quake was felt just after midday in Mexico City, where buildings shook and office workers fled into the street, according to a witnesses. Mobile phones were down and traffic ground to a halt in the capital in the moments after the shock.
Groups of people gathered at the city's Angel of Independence monument after hundreds of workers were evacuated from office buildings. Some said they had never felt such a strong earthquake.
Samantha Rodriguez, a 37-year old environmental consultant evacuated from the 11th floor of an office building on the square, said: "I thought it was going to pass quickly but the walls began to thunder and we decided to get out."
Mexico City's airport was closed for a short time but there was no damage to runways, and operations soon began returning to normal.
The president, Felipe Calderón, tweeted that no serious damage had been reported from the quake. The Mexico City mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, said – also via his Twitter account – that he could see no damage as he surveyed the city from a helicopter.
Nor was any damage reported in Oaxaca city, where the quake was also strongly felt, according to local television. "It was very strong, but we didn't see anything fall," said Irma Ortiz, who runs a guesthouse in the city. The shock was felt as far away as Guatemala City.
But Sylvia Valencia, who was teaching Spanish to five adult students at the Vinigulaza language school in Oaxaca when the earthquake hit, said: "It was hard, it was strong, and it was long."
Celia Galicia, who works at the US consular office in the city, had just flown in from Mexico City. She said there had been panic in the airport and a dash for the doors. She said one building in the centre of the city appeared to be damaged, and had been evacuated. There had been two strong aftershocks, and most people were out on the street.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said the inland earthquake would not generate a destructive widespread tsunami, but some local tsunami effects were possible.