A mega long 7.9 earthquake with an epicenter in Guerrero state shook central southern Mexico on Tuesday, swaying buildings in Mexico City and sending frightened workers and residents into the streets.
The U.S. Geological Survey set the intensity at 7.9 on the Richter scale. Mexico’s National Seismological Survey said the temblor had an epicenter southwest of Ometepec.
The quake struck at 12:02 p.m. in Mexico City (11:02 a.m. Pacific time). It was six miles underground.
Also, shortly after 11 a.m., USGS issued earthquake reports for 3.8-magnitude quakes on either side of the Coachella Valley, but those were quickly deleted.
The world’s largest mobile earthquake simulator made a stop at the KPSP Local 2 News studios and simulated an 8.0 earthquake within the shaker.
After watching this YouTube video it easy to understand why the people of Mexico City decided to run into the streets.
The quake led to a flurry of posts on Twitter:
everything is ok in Mexico city?, The Earthquake was so hard 7.9!!
@steveaoki: Just landed in mexico city and experienced an earthquake in the terminal. That was weird #earthquakeypeople” we hit turbulence
“@ProducerMatthew: Mexico City earthquake early warning system triggered “just seconds before the 7.6 quake,” @RodrigoEBR reports.”
“@nytimes: Strong, Long 7.6 Quake Shakes Mexico City http://t.co/0N5hT4An
Please pray for my sister and her family who live near this. RT