Powerful Magnitude 7 earthquake strikes Acapulco

Powerful Magnitude 7 earthquake strikes near Acapulco killing at least one.

A powerful earthquake struck near the Pacific resort city of Acapulco on Tuesday night, September 8, killing at least one person and causing buildings to rock and sway in Mexico City hundreds of kilometres away.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7 and was centred 17 kilometres (about 10 miles) northeast of Acapulco.

Many people- too scared to go back inside- gathered in the streets of the Mexican holiday destination amid the aftershocks.

“We were only just checking into the hotel, so we have all our things with us. They told us it’s still not safe to enter,” said Jessica Arias, who was part of a group of eight visiting from Mexico City, the capital.

“We were in shock. There were no earthquake alarms, so we felt it when it was already happening,” said Andrea del Valle, who was sitting on a pavement with her partner after rushing out of a cinema.

“We heard a loud noise from the building, noise from the windows, things fell inside the house, the power went out. We heard leaking water, the water went out of the pool and you heard people screaming, very nervous people,” said Sergio Flores, an Acapulco resident.

Flores said all he could do when it started shaking was hug his wife. He saw people leaving hotels around the bay and some running into parking decks to remove their cars, fearing a collapse.

Guerrero state governor Hector Astudillo told local television that a man was killed by a falling post in Coyuca de Benitez, a small town just west of Acapulco.

Mexican state power utility the Comision Federal de Electricidad said in a statement that 1.6 million users had been affected by the quake in Mexico City, the adjacent State of Mexico, and the states of Guerrero, Morelos and Oaxaca.

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