Strong earthquake hits southern, central Mexico, killing at least two

A powerful earthquake struck southern and central Mexico on January 2, killing at least two people and briefly interrupting President Claudia Sheinbaum’s first press briefing of the year as seismic alarms sounded.

Mexico’s national seismological agency said the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5, with its epicentre near the town of San Marcos in the southern state of Guerrero, close to the Pacific coast resort city of Acapulco. Authorities recorded more than 500 aftershocks following the initial quake, AP reports.

Guerrero’s civil defence agency said multiple landslides in and around Acapulco and along several highways across the state. Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado said a 50-year-old woman died in a small community near the epicenter after her home collapsed.

Officials also reported major structural damage to a hospital in Chilpancingo, the state capital, forcing the evacuation of several patients.

The shaking was felt strongly in Mexico City and Acapulco, prompting residents and tourists to rush into the streets. Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada said one person died after suffering an apparent medical emergency followed by a fall while evacuating a building.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 21.7 miles (35 kilometres), about 2.5 miles north-northwest of Rancho Viejo, Guerrero, a mountainous area approximately 57 miles northeast of Acapulco.

President Sheinbaum resumed her press briefing shortly after the quake.

By Sabina Mammadli