A powerful earthquake shook south and central Mexico on Friday, causing residents to flee buildings in the country's capital. Crowds of people gathered on central Reforma Avenue in Mexico City as the ground shook.
The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's preliminary magnitude at 7.2 and said its epicenter was 33 miles, 53 kilometers, northeast of Pinotepa in Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles, or 24 kilometers. The epicenter is a rural area of western Oaxaca state near the Pacific coast and the border with Guerrero state.
Videos posted to social media showed light fixtures violently swinging inside office buildings. Others showed street and traffic lights swaying from side-to-side.
The Oaxaca state civil protection agency said via Twitter that it was monitoring the coastline.
In September, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck central Mexico, leaving 228 people dead in the capital and 369 across the region.
A massive earthquake hit Mexico Friday evening, leaving buildings shaking throughout the southern portion of the country.
The earthquake was first measured as a 7.5-magnitude and later lowered to having a 7.2-magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was found along the Pacific coast near Santiago Ixtayutla, a town in the state of Oaxaca in the southwestern area of the country.
There is no tsunami threat from the quake, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Videos on social media show people in the streets grabbing onto a car as the ground started shaking. Footage inside a building show lights swaying back and forth with people lined up along a hallway.
Mexico is no stranger to earthquakes. The country dealt with two back-to-back quakes in September that left hundreds dead after buildings crumbled, including schools.
More than 90 people died after the first earthquake on Sept. 7, then days later on Sept. 19, another disaster struck in Central Mexico. Several hundred were left dead.
The second tragedy landed on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, which left an estimated 9,500 people dead.
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