A strong earthquake hit southern and central Mexico on Friday, shaking buildings and causing hundreds of people to take to the streets. While the ground was moving, to the memory of many returned an earthquake of similar magnitude that five months ago caused several damages and left more than 300 dead.
Mexican authorities had reported no major damage or victims of the earthquake, which according to the US Geological Survey (USGS) had a magnitude of 7.2 and was recorded 53 kilometers northeast of Pinotepa Nacional, in the southern state of Oaxaca, at a depth of 24 kilometers. Initially, the agency indicated that it had been 7.5 degrees, although shortly afterwards it reduced it.
Inside Mexico City Office Building During Violent 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake – February 16, 2018
The movement was felt until the capital of the country, where people abandoned buildings and houses, and even stopped their cars in the middle of the street.
“With what happened on September 19, because nothing else I heard the alarm … and I went out barefoot with my girl,” said Mercedes Rojas Huerta, a 57-year-old housewife, while sitting outside her home in the Condesa neighborhood, one of the most affected by the earthquake of five months ago.
On September 19, 2017, the center of the country was shaken by another telluric movement of 7.1 degrees that damaged several buildings and left more than 300 people dead. The majority of victims were registered in Mexico City.
“I’m afraid to get involved. The house is old, “said Rojas, who recalled that he was afraid only to remember that in the previous earthquake several buildings fell.