Mexico Earthquake: 7.6-Magnitude Quake Shakes Mexico City; Epicenter In Guerrero State [VIDEO]
By Staff Reporter | Mar 20, 2012 06:01 PM EDT
A strong 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Mexico on Tuesday, with an epicenter in Guerrero state. A strong aftershock was felt throughout Mexico City, prompting buildings to be evacuated.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the earthquake was 7.6 on the Richter scale and it struck 11 miles below the surface shortly after noon local time (18:02 GMT). Mexico's National Seismological Survey reported the epicenter southwest of Ometepec in Guerrero state, and was felt in Oaxaca and Acapulco.
President Felipe Calderon reported via Twitter that there was no immediate damage.
According to the report, the 7.6-magnitude quake shook buildings and prompted an evacuation of workers and residents from many buildings in Mexico City.
"I was sitting at my desk on the ninth floor, when all of the sudden I got a sudden dizzy feeling as if the ground fell beneath me," Joseph Martinez, 23, recounted to IBTimes from Colonia Lomas de Plateros. "Then I realized it wasn't the wind moving the window shades, as the plants in the office were also moving ... and the picture frames on the wall were swinging from side to side."
Martinez, along with many other workers and residents in Mexico City, was evacuated outside of the building as everyone was instructed in Spanish to "stay calm" and "go downstairs" while many aftershocks were felt.
For Martinez, the Tuesday earthquake was much more intense than the 6.4-magnitude quake that struck Mexico City in December.
"The movement was strong, stronger than what I had felt in December when a 6.4 shook the city," Martinez said.
Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said the water system and other "strategic services" were not harmed in the quake, as reported by The Associated Press.
According to Bloomberg News, the earthquake was the strongest quake in Mexico since the one that devasted the capital in 1985.
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