M 7.4 earthquake strikes Mexico, shaking felt hundreds of kilometres away
Mexico is one of the most earthquake-prone countries on Earth and is situated at the intersection of three tectonic plates.
A powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck near Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Shaking was felt hundreds of kilometres away and buildings in Mexico City felt the earthquake.
Several isolated villages have been cut off by rockfalls in the winding mountain roads. A clinic and other buildings in hill villages have been severely damaged, as reported by CBC News. At least five fatalities have been reported.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) says that the earthquake occurred as a result of reverse faulting on or near the plate boundary between the Cocos and North American plates.
This earthquake likely occurred on the subduction zone interface between the plates, which is roughly 100 m northeast of the Middle America Trench, where Cocos plate begins its descent into the mantle beneath Mexico.
Mexico is one of the most earthquake-prone countries on Earth and is situated at the intersection of three tectonic plates. Significant earthquakes have been recorded in the southern coast of Mexico throughout history, including a magnitude 8.0 earthquake that struck in 1985 and caused around 9,500 fatalities, injuries to 30,000 people and left 100,000 people homeless.
In February 2018, a magnitude 7.2 struck 225 km to the northwest of this event that injured four people and damaged 1,000 homes in Oaxaca.
The earthquake prompted a tsunami warning for the Pacific coasts of Mexico and Central and South America and waves of up to one metre were possible on the Mexican coast.
See below for a look at the impacts across Mexico.