Strong magnitude 6.5 earthquake shakes Mexico City without causing any serious damage
The earthquake was registered at 7:58 a.m. local time, according to the National Seismological Service, with its epicenter 9 miles from San Marcos, near the tourist city of Acapulco, in the southwest of the country.
People leave buildings after tremor in Mexico City.
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake, with its epicenter in the state of Guerrero, shook the Mexican Pacific coast and Mexico City Friday morning, triggering scenes of alarm and precautionary evacuations, although with no preliminary reports of serious damage, authorities said.
The earthquake was registered at 7:58 a.m. local time, according to the National Seismological Service, with its epicenter 9 miles from San Marcos, near the tourist city of Acapulco, in the southwest of the country.
A minute before the quake, the seismic alert was activated, allowing thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate buildings. In the middle of the morning of a long weekend for the beginning of the year, many people took to the streets still in their pajamas, visibly upset, noted AFP.
"I was still asleep and the street alarm started ringing," recounted Karen Gomez, 47, a resident of the 13th floor of a building in the Alvaro Obregon district. "The cell phone alarm, that really scared me," she added, referring to the mobile phone alert system implemented in 2025.
The tremor forced the suspension of President Claudia Sheinbaum's morning news conference at the National Palace. Minutes later, the governor reported that, preliminarily, no serious damage or casualties were reported in Mexico City or Guerrero.
Journalists observed evacuations ordered in different parts of the capital. In the Londres clinic, located in the Cuauhtémoc district, doctors in gowns, nurses, patients and family members went outside as part of the safety protocols.
A city vulnerable to earthquakes
Mexico has a long and painful seismic memory. On Sept. 19, 1985, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake devastated large areas of the capital and left 12,843 dead, according to an official count published in 2015, although civil organizations estimated more than 20,000 dead.
Another magnitude 7.1 quake, also on Sept. 19, in 2017, caused 369 deaths, mostly in the capital.
Sophisticated early warning systems
In the wake of these tragedies, the country has developed sophisticated early warning systems, with support from the National Seismological Service, including loudspeakers on streetlight poles and mobile apps that can give up to a minute's warning before a strong quake.
Mexico is located on the convergence of five tectonic plates, making it one of the most seismically active countries in the world, especially along its Pacific coast, from the border with Guatemala to the state of Jalisco.
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