GUATEMALA CITY — A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Friday near the Pacific coast of Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state, prompting a tsunami warning and sending tremors through buildings in neighboring Guatemala and El Salvador.
Officials said there were no immediate reports of damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake hit at a depth of 15.2 kilometers, or 9.44 miles. The agency revised its initial estimate, which had placed the quake at magnitude 7.4 and at a shallower depth of 10 kilometers.
In the aftermath, the U.S. Tsunami Warning System warned that dangerous tsunami waves could affect coastlines within 300 kilometers, or 186 miles, of the epicenter.
According to the warning center, some coastal areas in Mexico and Guatemala could see waves rising between 0.3 meters and 1 meter above normal tide levels.
Mexico’s Navy Secretary, Raymundo Morales, said authorities did not expect water levels to climb by more than half a meter, though he urged the public to avoid beaches as a precaution.
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“There is no problem, no serious maritime impact,” Morales said during a regular government news conference. “We only expect some beaches to see a rise in water level of up to half a meter due to the tsunami effect from the earthquake.”
Several aftershocks followed the initial quake, including tremors ranging from magnitude 5 to 6, and were felt across parts of Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Residents flee homes in Guatemala
In Guatemala City, the earthquake shook buildings and prompted some residents to dash from their homes onto the street, according to a Reuters witness. Local media in Guatemala showed footage of staff evacuating a government building as security protocols were activated.
“I got really scared, and it reminded me of the recent earthquake in Venezuela. So I ran out and went down the stairs because I live on the eighth floor. The shaking wouldn’t stop,” Alexander Valdez, a 29-year-old accountant, told Reuters in Guatemala City.
Adolfo Zacarias, a 43-year-old customer service worker who lives on the third floor of his building, said he sought shelter under a structural column as the shaking began.
“I think the memories of what recently happened in Venezuela came back to us and that scared us a lot,” Zacarias said.
Venezuela is still reeling from twin earthquakes that struck the country on June 24, when magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors hit within less than a minute of each other in the north-central region, toppling buildings in Caracas and nearby coastal areas and triggering a prolonged rescue and relief effort.
