Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP - Getty Images
People run to safety on the streets of Mexico City after a strong quake hits Mexico today. A strong 7.4 earthquake shook and terrified people in Guerrero state toward central southern Mexico on first day of Springs, Tuesday, March 20, 2012, swaying buildings in Mexico City and sending frightened workers and residents into the streets.
More than 60 homes were damaged in Ometepec in southern Guerrero state and about 40 passengers were stranded for a short time on the Mexico City airport air train.
More than 60 homes were damaged in Ometepec in southern Guerrero state and about 40 passengers were stranded for a short time on the Mexico City airport air train.
Full source from WorldNews on msnbc.com
By msnbc.com staff and news services
A strong, long 7.4 earthquake with an epicenter in Guerrero state shook central southern Mexico on Tuesday, swaying buildings in Mexico City and sending frightened workers and residents into the streets.
More than 60 homes were damaged near the epicenter in Ometepec in southern Guerrero state, though there were no reports of death or serious injury. Fear and panic spread as a less powerful, magnitude-5.1 aftershock was also felt in the capital, where there were also no reports of deaths.
Other aftershocks were felt around the borders of Oaxaca and Guerrero states close to the epicenter.
"It was very strong, very substantial," Campos Benitez, hospital director in Ometepec.
Police radio operator Marcos Marroquin said there were preliminary reports of 60 houses damaged in the municipality but only a report of a broken arm.
Telephone service was down in the city and throughout the area where the quake was felt, and some neighborhoods were without power, according to Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who set up a hotline for people to report damage.
About 40 passengers were stranded for a short time on the Mexico City airport air train, but later released. The airport closed for a time but officials said there was no runway damage and they resumed operations.
"I swear I never felt one so strong, I thought the building was going to collapse,'' said Sebastian Herrera, 42, a businessman from a neighborhood hit hard in Mexico's devastating 1985 earthquake, which killed thousands.
Groups of women hugged and cried at Mexico City's Angel of Independence monument, where hundreds of people evacuated from office buildings said they never had felt such a strong earthquake.
Others typed ferociously on their Blackberries. Samantha Rodriguez, a 37-year old environmental consultant, was evacuated from the 11th floor on the Angel Tower office building.
"I thought it was going to pass rapidly but the walls began to thunder and we decided to get out," she said.
The quake was felt strongly in southern Guerrero state, where the epicenter was located about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the city of Ometepec. Neighboring Oaxaca state also shook heavily.
Governors in both states and civil protection reported strong shakes and some building damage but no casualties.
Victor Flores, an official at the Guerrero emergency management agency, told msnbc.com that initial reports from teams near the epicenter were of damage only to homes built of adobe or other weak construction material.
Aerial teams will follow up,” he added, “but so far no deaths or injuries.”
A person at Acapulco City Hall told NBC News that they felt the quake had no immediate reports of injuries or damages.
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