5.8 magnitude earthquake shakes buildings in Mexico City

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook much of central Mexico on Thursday including the capital, prompting people to run into the streets, the country’s seismological institute said.

There were no initial reports of damage in Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis of nine million people, Mayor Marti Batres wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was briefed by civil protection officials and said afterward in a video posted on X, “apparently the quake was not that strong. In any case we will release more information soon.”

The rumbling in the quake-prone country touched off a warning siren system. The institute said the epicenter was in the central state of Puebla.

Puebla officials the quake was felt in several towns but there were no initial reports of damage or injuries.

Mexico lies over five tectonic plates that make it one of the world’s most earthquake vulnerable countries, particularly on the Pacific coast.

In 1985 an 8.1 magnitude quake centered on the Pacific coast ravaged much of central and southern Mexico, killing thousands and causing severe damage in Mexico City.

A 7.1-magnitude quake on September 19, 2017 killed 369 people, most of them in the capital.

On that same day in 2022 central Mexico was hit by another quake, just hours after millions of people had taken part in a mock earthquake safety exercise.