A strong earthquake centered near the resort of Huatulco shook parts of southern and central Mexico on Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring several others.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake that hit at 10:29 a.m. local time had a magnitude of 7.4 and was centered along the Pacific coast of Oaxaca state.
Mexico's civil protection agency said in a statement that four people have died as a result of the earthquake.
Alejandro Murat, governor of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, told Telemundo News on a live interview that some buildings collapsed in the area of Crucecita, killing a young woman and injuring another person.
"Unfortunately, someone lost their life after a building collapsed," said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in a video posted on social media.
Murat later said a second person, a 70-year-old man, was killed in an apparent house collapse in the tiny mountainous village of San Juan Ozolotepec. At least two other people from the same area suffered open fractures after some buildings collapsed, said Murat during a local radio interview.
Pemex, the Mexican state-owned petroleum company, tweeted that one of their oil refineries burst into flames due to the earthquake. The fire was later put out. A man was injured during the incident and was taken to a hospital, according to Pemex. Mexico's civil protection agency later informed that the Pemex worker died of his injuries.
Another man lost his life in San Agustín Amatengo after a "fence fell on him," according to Mexico's civil protection agency.
Murat also said that at least one hospital in his state dedicated to the care of COVID-19 patients suffered enough structural damage that it will likely need to be completely evacuated.
Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City's head of government, said in a press conference that at least 36 buildings suffered minor damages due to the earthquake, including four government buildings.
A man from Iztapalapa was taken to a hospital after "a high voltage cable fell on him," said Sheinbaum, adding that a child was also taken to a children's hospital after suffering earthquake-related injuries.
Mexico’s seismological service said a tsunami on the Oaxaca coast was ongoing, with sea levels rising 60 centimeters (2 feet) at Huatulco beach, a popular destination for tourists. The country's civil protection agency recommended that residents move away from the coastline.
"We will continue to call on people to act with precaution due to possible aftershocks. Let's take care of ourselves without anguish or despair," said López Obrador in Spanish.
As of late afternoon, over 447 aftershocks had been reported, according to Mexico's civil protection agency.
In Oaxaca, Carlos Moreno, the owner of Koch Mezcal, was working alongside one of his employees in one of his agave artisanal processing plants when the quake struck. The worker was digging up a 50-foot well to ferment the liquor when it happened.
"What a scare!," Moreno told NBC News. "The man was 15 meters below ground, with an earthquake shaking everything, in almost darkness and in a small space... . We managed to get him out fast, but what a scare."
Seismic alarms sounded midmorning with enough warning for residents to exit buildings and power was knocked out to some areas.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that about 2 million people felt strong or moderate shaking and another 49 million felt weak or light shaking.
Santiago Taboada, mayor of the town of Benito Juarez in Mexico City, told Telemundo News that his town suffered "minor damages" even though phones lines went down temporarily as a result of the earthquake.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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