A massive 8-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of southern Mexico late Thursday night, causing buildings to sway violently and people to flee into the street in panic as far away as the capital city.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a magnitude of 8.0 and its epicentre was 165 kilometres west of Tapachula in southern Chiapas state not far from Guatemala. It had a depth of 35 kilometres.
The U.S. Tsunami Warning System says widespread hazardous tsunami waves are possible within the next several hours on the Pacific coasts of several Central American countries. It said waves were possible within the next three hours for Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras and Ecuador. There was no tsunami threat for the U.S. West Coast.
Mexico’s civil protection agency said it was the strongest earthquake to hit the country since a devastating 1985 tremor that toppled buildings and killed thousands.
The quake was so powerful that frightened residents in Mexico’s distant capital city fled apartment buildings, often in their pajamas, and gathered in groups in the street. Sections of Mexico City were without electricity.
