Mexico City Earthquake Shakes Buildings, But No Damage Reported

In Mexico City an earthquake shook buildings and sent people scrambling for safety early Tuesday morning, though initial reports appear to show no significant damage.

Witnesses to the earthquake noted that buildings were swaying as the tremors rocked the Mexican capital city.

The US Geological Survey said the Mexico City earthquake was measured at a magnitude 5.5 and struck at 7:04 am. The epicenter was about 10 miles west-southwest of Pinetepa Nacional on the country’s Pacific Coast, located more than 200 miles south-southeast of Mexico City.

The region near Mexico City is especially susceptible to earthquakes because of its soft soil. But this earthquake — which was initially measured a magnitude 5.9 — did not appear to cause damage either in Mexico City or closer to Pinotepa Nacional.

That area of Mexico saw a much stronger earthquake strike almost exactly a year ago. On March 20, 2012, an earthquake originally measured with a magnitude of 7.6 struck near Acapulco. This earthquake was so strong that it also was felt in Mexico City, with Mayor Marcelo Ebard taking to Twitter to write “tenemos sismo,” or “we have an earthquake.”Ebard said he flew over the city in helicopter following the 2012 earthquake, but saw no damage. There was also no damage reported in Acupulco for that earthquake.

Another earthquake struck Mexico City in 2009, that one measuring 5.6. Like Tuesday’s quake, the one in 2009 sent terrified residents into the street and shook buildings, but caused no significant damage. That earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific state of Guerrero, but struck at a depth that made serious damage less likely.