7.3 quake hits southern Mexico, no damage yet reported

Click here to listen to this article See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred The powerful quake occurred at 8:48 a.m. local time, with an epicenter about 30 miles off Mexico’s southwest coast. MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities were reporting no immediate damage after a strong earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the southern state of Chiapas, resulting in shaking hundreds of miles away in Mexico City.The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake — with a magnitude of 7.3 — occurred at 8:48 a.m. Mexico City time, with an epicenter about 30 miles southwest of the city of Huixtla, in Chiapas state, near the border with Guatemala. The quake had a depth of a 9.2 miles, the survey said.Reports in Chiapas indicated a series of after-shocks as panicked residents left their homes as a precaution. Video on social media from the southern state showed people gathering on the streets amid a sense of uncertainty. Authorities in Chiapas suspended official activities and activated and alert for a potential tsunami, according to reports.News of the quake broke as President Claudia Sheinbaum was completing her regular morning news conference. In a post later on X, Sheinbaum said that no damage was reported in Chiapas and the state of Tabasco, on Mexico’s east coast, where shaking was felt.Mexico’s secretary of the navy, Raymundo Pedro Morales, told reporters that there was no immediate indication of damage. Authorities were recommending that people avoid beaches in the two states because of a potential tsunami risk.Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed. More to Read Sign up for Essential California The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning. By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads. Foreign correspondent Patrick J. McDonnell is the Los Angeles Times Mexico City bureau chief and previously headed Times bureaus in Beirut, Buenos Aires and Baghdad. A native of the Bronx, McDonnell is a graduate of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism and was a Nieman fellow at Harvard. More From the Los Angeles Times Podcasts Most Read in World & Nation