Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Earthquake Shakes Southern Mexico and Mexico City (Updated)

In a developing story a strong earthquake has shaken several parts of Mexico.

The main tremor occurred at around noon local time with the epicenter allegedly in the southern state of Guerrero. President Felipe Calderon mentioned via Twitter that no fatalities or major damage have resulted from the quake. Nonetheless, he tweeted that there delays in the distribution of electricity.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebard tweeted "there is no visible damage, the main services are functioning." Nevertheless, thousands of residents exited from buildings after the main quake that lasted approximately forty seconds.

The following amateur video comes from one of workers several stories up in the Torre Mayor skyscraper:

According to Mexican officials the main earthquake originally measured 6.5 on the Richter scale though the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) reported it as 7.6.

Update: In a pair of seperate press conferences President Felipe Calderon and Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebard mentioned that no fatalities or serious damages have resulted from today's earthquakes. Yet a local radio station reported that one person was injured after a pedestrian bridge collapsed over the bus that he was driving in the north of Mexico City.

Officials in the capital of Guerrero state, Chilpacingo, reported that the electricity is out in most of the city and that the phone lines are "saturated."

An official with the Guatemalan seismological agency told EFE that the tremors where noticed in parts of that Central American country.

The USGS updated its data on the main earthquake and now claimed it measured 7.4 on the Richter scale.

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