An earthquake has struck Mexico on Friday morning, first reported by El Universal, with an initial estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter magnitude scale.
Mexico's National Seismological Service announced that the earthquake took place at 9:27 a.m. local time and according to Twitter, the government immediately started monitoring the quake and its aftermath. The U.S. Geological Survey has revealed that the earthquake was, contrary to preliminary reports, a 7.5-magnitude quake on the Richter scale, and took place 23 miles (37 kilometers) North of Tecpan de Galeana, Mexico at 14:27:29.40 UTC.
The epicenter of the earthquake, which took place in the early hours of April 18, 2014, in Mexico is being reported to be Acatepec, Guerrero, but the quake was felt from Mexico City to Puebla, Aguascalientes. Residents have reported (via Twitter and comments) that they have lost power during the quake and felt the buildings sway for 30 seconds.
After an earthquake, residents are typically advised to be wary of further activity in the form of aftershocks, which are secondary shockwaves that are less violent than earthquakes. Aftershocks can take place within hours, days, weeks, or months after the preliminary earthquake. If you live in a coastal area, you should also be wary of tsunamis (seismic sea waves).
Recently, the Americas (Latin, Central and North) has seen a spike in seismic activity: Nicaragua was hit by three earthquakes last week, northern Chile was hit with a magnitude 8.2 quake, and magnitude 5.1 tremor that shook southern California in March.
In 1985, Mexico was hit with a 8.1-magnitude quake that destroyed many buildings in Mexico City and claimed at least 6,000 lives. The earthquake's epicenter was 250 miles (400 kilometers) away.
This is a developing story; check back at Latin Times for more information.
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