Magnitude 7.4 earthquake strikes Mexico; no fatalities reported

March 21, 2012



A significant earthquake has impacted Mexico on a part of the coast bordering the. No fatalities have been reported thus far.

has registered the magnitude of the earthquake today as 7.4. USGS has attributed the quake epicentre to a location 25 kilometres (15 miles) to the east of in the state of, in close proximity to the city of. The depth of the epicentre was approximately 18 kilometres (11 miles) below surface level, USGS clarified.

A statement from a state governor in Guerrero reported damage to five hundred houses in the state. In the capital Mexico City, a pedestrian bridge was also reported to have collapsed, crushing a minibus in the process.

In the substantially impacted Mexican state of, one witness named Sylvia Valencia described the earthquake as "hard", "strong" and "long". Irma Ortiz, another witness from the same state, said of the quake: "It was very strong, but we didn't see anything fall". A Spanish language tweet from Felipe Calderón spoke of "scenes of panic and building evacuations".

According to Mexican seismological service director Carlos Valdes Gonzalez, six aftershocks have occurred in the aftermath of the earthquake, with one measuring at magnitude 5.3. Additional aftershocks were anticipated for another 24 hours, Gonzalez claimed.