A powerful earthquake struck southern and central Mexico on Friday, killing at least two people.
The epicenter of the magnitude 6.5 earthquake was near Acapulco, a popular tourist city near San Marcos in the southwestern state of Guerrero, causing severe damage.
Governor Evelyn Salgado said a 50-year-old woman had died in Guerrero, while Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada confirmed the death of a 60-year-old man and said 12 people were injured.
Mexico is located in one of the most seismically active regions in the world, at the intersection of four tectonic plates.
Late Friday night, Brugada said power had been restored to “98% of reported outages” in Mexico City.
She said two structures were being assessed for risk of collapse and 34 buildings and five homes were being inspected as a precautionary measure.
Damage assessments are underway in Mexico City after roads and hospitals were affected, and authorities said multiple landslides had occurred on highways around the state of Guerrero, according to news agency Reuters.
Mexico’s seismological agency recorded 420 aftershocks by noon local time (18:00 GMT).
President Claudia Sheinbaum was giving her first press conference of the year when the earthquake struck.
In a video capturing the moment, Sheinbaum can be heard saying, “It’s shaking,” as an earthquake warning system blares in the background. She then told the media to “everyone stay calm and get out.”
Additional footage shows buildings shaking in Mexico City and cars shaking in Acapulco.
Residents and tourists flocked to the streets of Mexico City and Acapulco after hearing Mexico’s earthquake warning system early Friday morning.
The seismic system was installed after the deadly 1985 earthquake that killed more than 10,000 people.
In 2017, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Mexico City, killing more than 200 people and collapsing dozens of buildings.
