A powerful earthquake struck near the Pacific resort city of Acapulco on Tuesday night, killing at least one person and causing buildings to rock and sway in Mexico City hundreds of kilometers away, the Associated Press reported. The US Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7 and was centered 17 kilometers (about 10 miles) northeast of Acapulco. Guerrero state Gov. Hector Astudillo told Milenio Television late Tuesday night that one person had been killed by a falling post in the town of Coyuca de Benitez near Acapulco. In Mexico City, nearly 200 miles away, the ground shook for nearly a minute in some parts of the capital, but the quake was less evident in other parts. Some people evacuated their buildings briefly, but most quickly went back inside on a rainy night. Astudillo said the tsunami alert center had not registered any variations in the sea level. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later said the threat of potential waves had passed. The mayor of Acapulco, Adela Roman, said in statement to the television news outlet Milenio that "there is no really serious situation" so far and no reports of casualties. "There are nervous breakdowns; people are worried because there have been aftershocks," she said, adding that there are "many gas leaks in many places" as well as some landslides and fallen walls. Before the first death was reported, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said via Twitter that authorities in the four states that most felt the earthquake told him there were no victims or serious damage beyond some collapsed walls and falling rocks. "Fortunately there is not serious damage," he said. Mexico's National Civil Defense said it was conducting reviews in 10 states, but had not received reports of victims nor serious damage. Tuesday's earthquake occurred four years to the day after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake that struck off the coast of Mexico's southern state of Chiapas, largely destroying the town of Juchitan in neighboring Oaxaca state and killing dozens. — Agencies
