Huge earthquake in Mexico's south 'strongest in the past 100 years,' Mexican president says
At least 58 people have died after a strong earthquake shook Mexico's capital and brought tsunami warnings to the west coast, local government said.
The quake, on Mexico's west coast, has been recorded greater than a magnitude 8.1, according to the USGS.
Initial USGS reports put the quake at 8.0, but this was revised upwards to 8.1 with the Mexican Seismological Agency rating the shock at magnitude 8.4.
People who evacuated from bars during an earthquake stand in the street in La Roma neighbourhood of Mexico City. Source: AP
Aftershocks measuring 5.7 and 5.2 were reported a short time after near Chiapas in Mexico’s south, according to the earthquake monitors.
Widespread, hazardous tsunami waves were possible, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.
People who evacuated from bars check their phones in the street in La Roma neighbourhood of Mexico City. Source: AP
A tsunami warning was in place for Mexico and neighbouring Central American nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama, but the alert was lifted several hours after the quake.
The 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit 123km southwest of the town of Pijijiapan, in Mexico's south. Source: USGS
However, waves measuring 1.5 metres have been recorded by the Guatemalan geoscience monitor.
Reports of widespread damage are coming in from Mexico City, which shook for between four to six minutes.
At Juchitan, in the state of Oaxaca, houses, a hotel, a hospital and the town hall have reportedly collapsed.
A widespread tsunami warning was put in place. Source: USGS
Alarms sounded and pyjama-clad residents ran into the streets of Mexico City after the quake struck just before midnight (3pm on Friday AEST), a Reuters witness said.
Power went out in some neighbourhoods. Pictures and video coming from the Mexican capital show people running to safety in the streets in the dark, early hours of Friday morning.
"I had never been anywhere where the earth moved so much. At first I laughed but when the lights went out I didn't know what to do. I nearly fell over," said Luis Carlos Briceno, an architect, 31, who was visiting Mexico City.
Tsunami warnings were initially put in place for Mexico and its Central American neighbours to the south. Source: USGS
The earthquake's epicentre was 123km southwest of the town of Pijijiapan, at a depth of 33km.
According to the earthquake monitors CSEM-EMSC about 90 million people would have felt the quake that struck at 4.49am local time.
The Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto, is calling it the biggest earthquake in Mexico in a century.
In 1985, an earthquake killed more than 10,000 people in Mexico City.
Since then, authorities have implemented stricter building codes and alert systems to prevent a similar death toll from ever occurring again.
Mexico is one of the most seismically active countries in the world because it sits above five separate tectonic plates.
