Tsunami warning issued as Mexico rocked by massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake
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A massive earthquake has struck Mexico, measuring at a massive 7.7 on the richter scale.
The seismic event has left one person dead and it has triggered a tsunami warnings.
Some coastal areas have already been inundated with water.
There have been early reports of damage to buildings from the quake, which hit at 1.05pm local time on September 19.
🌊 Tsunami, entry of the sea in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico.
— Ricardo Champs 🇲🇽 🇷🇺 🇨🇳 (@ricchamps9) September 19, 2022
Earthquake 7.7 magnitude. #Earthquake #Tsunami #Mexico pic.twitter.com/uH6NVUb2IR
According to the US Geological Survey, the epicentre of the quake initially hit about 37km southeast of Aquila, which is not far from the boundary of states Colima and Michoacan.
The earthquake also recorded a depth of 15.1km.
The 2022 quake is the third time Mexico has been struck by an earthquake on September 19, with deadly tremors rocking the Central American nation in 1985 and 2017.
Glass falling out of building during #Michoacan #earthquake in #mexico #sismo #tsunami #mexico #earthquake #michoacan pic.twitter.com/CmLwP6pA4T
— Internet Clips 📸 (@intxrnetclips) September 19, 2022
The 2022 quake was initially reported by the US Geological Survey as coming in at 7.6 magnitude, however that has since been updated to 7.7 magnitude, CNN reports.
Immediately after the quake shook Mexico, the US Tsunami Warning Center warned that hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coastal locations within 300km of the quake's centre point.
US Geological Survey seismologist Paul Earle told Nine News that the quake striking on the same date as two other previous disasters is merely 'a coincidence'.
"There's no physical reason or statistical bias toward earthquakes in any given month in Mexico," he said.
Earthquake hit off the coast of Mexico and our hotel room in Puerto Vallarta shook hard. #earthquake pic.twitter.com/e1jGsI1iQn
— Jon (DLC Included) (@itspapajon) September 19, 2022
"Nor is there a season or month for big earthquakes anywhere on the globe. But there is a predictable thing: people seek and sometimes find coincidences that look like patterns."
He added: "We knew we'd get this question as soon as it happened. Sometimes there are just coincidences."
Mexico's latest earthquake comes on the fifth anniversary of the 2017 earthquake that killed 216 people in Mexico City.
In Coalcoman, not far from the quake's epicentre, teenager Carla Cárdenas described the moment the Earth started to tremble.
"It started slowly and then was really strong and continued and continued until it started to relent," the 16-year-old said, as per Nine.
MEXICO.
— Asif Tintoiya (@TintoiyaAsif) September 19, 2022
An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 occurred in the west of the state of Michoacán. The source lay at a depth of 25 km. The epicenter was located 103 km from the city of Colima. pic.twitter.com/NB4r4E3nu0
Cárdenas ran out of her family's hotel and waited with neighbours until the shaking had let up.
She added that her family's hotel and some homes on her street now had cracks in the walls and segments of roofs had broken off.
"In the hotel, the roof of the parking area boomed and fell to the ground, and there are cracks in the walls on the second floor," she said.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed one death in the port city of Manzanillo, Colima when a wall at a mall collapsed.
Featured Image Credit: US Geological Survey. Cuencas_108_Sag/Twitter
Topics: World News, News
