Powerful quake strikes Mexico on anniversary of temblors, at least one dead

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -A powerful earthquake struck western Mexico on Monday on the anniversary of two devastating temblors, killing at least one person, damaging buildings, knocking out power and sending residents of Mexico City scrambling on to streets for safety.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a video address that a person had died in the Pacific port of Manzanillo after a wall collapsed in a store.

Shortly after 1 p.m. (1800 GMT), the magnitude 7.6 quake quake hit near the coast on the border region of the states of Michoacan and Colima at a depth of around 15 km (9 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were no immediate reports of damage in the capital after the tremors, which rumbled through Mexico on the same day as major quakes battered the country in 1985 and 2017.

“It’s this date, there’s something about the 19th,” said Ernesto Lanzetta, a business owner in the Cuauhtemoc borough of the city. “The 19th is a day to be feared.”

In an earlier message before announcing the death, Lopez Obrador said there was material damage in areas near the epicenter. Images posted on social media showed buildings badly damaged.

Power was knocked out in parts of the central Roma area of the capital, some 400 km (250 miles) from the epicenter. Local residents cradling pets stood on the street, while tourists visiting a local market with a local guide were visibly confused and upset.

Traffic lights stopped working, and people clutched their phones, sending text messages or waiting for calls to get through.

Thousands of people were killed in the Sept. 19, 1985 earthquake and more than 350 died in the Sept. 19, 2017 quake.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for parts of Mexico’s coast, saying waves reaching 1 to 3 meters (3 to 9 feet) above the tide level were possible.

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