Mexico quake brings rude awakening
Source: Agencies |
April 13, 2012, Friday
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A STRONG earthquake struck off the coast of Mexico yesterday, waking up residents living near the Gulf of California, only hours after a separate quake swayed tall buildings in Mexico City, causing evacuations.
Authorities said neither quake left major damage nor victims.
The US Geological Survey reported a 6.9 magnitude quake hit the waters between the Baja peninsula and the northern state of Sonora at 12:15am local time.
Residents in the city of Hermosillo woke up as their beds swayed and their ceiling fans shook. Luis Enrique Cordova, director of emergency services in Sonora, said confused residents clogged the phone lines of the civil protection office in Hermosillo, the largest city and capital of the state, where some 700,000 people live. But Cordova said no major damages have been detected in the region.
"I was on my bed, leaning against the wall, and the fans kept moving side to side," said Carlos Morales, a teacher in Hermosillo.
The earthquake was centered 133 kilometers northeast of Guerrero Negro, and 215km west of Hermosillo, and it hit some 10.3km below the surface.
It follows a 6.4 magnitude quake which struck a sparsely populated area in the mountains of western Mexico on Wednesday, and caused multi-story buildings to sway more than 322 kilometers away in Mexico City.
Wednesday's quake was the latest in a series of quakes to hit Mexico City since a powerful 7.4-magnitude quake hit southern Mexico three weeks ago. This was not an aftershock of that one, USGS geophysicist Dale Grant said.
Last month's big earthquake was felt strongly in the capital, damaged hundreds of homes and killed at least two people near the border between Guerrero and Oaxaca states.
Authorities said neither quake left major damage nor victims.
The US Geological Survey reported a 6.9 magnitude quake hit the waters between the Baja peninsula and the northern state of Sonora at 12:15am local time.
Residents in the city of Hermosillo woke up as their beds swayed and their ceiling fans shook. Luis Enrique Cordova, director of emergency services in Sonora, said confused residents clogged the phone lines of the civil protection office in Hermosillo, the largest city and capital of the state, where some 700,000 people live. But Cordova said no major damages have been detected in the region.
"I was on my bed, leaning against the wall, and the fans kept moving side to side," said Carlos Morales, a teacher in Hermosillo.
The earthquake was centered 133 kilometers northeast of Guerrero Negro, and 215km west of Hermosillo, and it hit some 10.3km below the surface.
It follows a 6.4 magnitude quake which struck a sparsely populated area in the mountains of western Mexico on Wednesday, and caused multi-story buildings to sway more than 322 kilometers away in Mexico City.
Wednesday's quake was the latest in a series of quakes to hit Mexico City since a powerful 7.4-magnitude quake hit southern Mexico three weeks ago. This was not an aftershock of that one, USGS geophysicist Dale Grant said.
Last month's big earthquake was felt strongly in the capital, damaged hundreds of homes and killed at least two people near the border between Guerrero and Oaxaca states.
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