The epicenter of the 6.5-magnitude earthquake was near the popular tourist town of Acapulco, near San Marcos in the southwestern state of Guerrero, which suffered moderate damage.
The governor of the state of Guerrero, Evelyn Salgado, said a 50-year-old woman had died in that state, while the mayor of Mexico City, Clara Brugada, confirmed the death of a 60-year-old man and said 12 other people were injured in the capital.
Mexico is located in one of the most seismically active areas in the world, as it lies at the junction of four tectonic plates.
Late Friday night, Brugada said power had been restored to “98% of reported outages” in Mexico City.
She added that the risk of collapse of two buildings is being assessed, while 34 buildings and five houses are being inspected as a preventive measure.
According to the Reuters news agency, damage assessments are underway in Mexico City after roads and hospitals were hit, while authorities recorded various landslides on highways across the state of Guerrero.
Mexico’s seismological service registered 420 aftershocks by noon local time (18:00 GMT).
President Claudia Sheinbaum was holding her first press conference of the year when the earthquake hit the area.
In a video that captures the moment, Sheinbaum can be heard saying “it’s shaking” as an earthquake warning system sounds in the background. Then he tells the media to “everyone leave peacefully”.
Additional footage shows buildings shaking in Mexico City and cars shaking in Acapulco.
After hearing Mexico’s seismic warning system in the early hours of Friday morning, residents and tourists ran into the streets of Mexico City and Acapulco.
This seismic system was introduced after the deadly earthquake of 1985, which killed more than 10,000 people.
In 2017, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake killed more than 200 people and collapsed dozens of buildings in Mexico City.
(Vijesti.ba)
