A strong earthquake shook Guatemala and southern Mexico on Monday, damaging buildings, triggering landslides and sparking reports of at least four deaths. The magnitude 6.9 quake rattled the region and town of San Marcos on Guatemala’s border with Mexico.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
“This quake was pretty strong. There are houses destroyed”, said Luis Rivera, governor of the San Marcos region, which was also hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in late 2012 that killed 48 people.
Damaged houses, San Marcos, Guatemala (InfoEmergencias tweet):
#GUATEMALA: Una de las viviendas afectadas por el terremoto en San Marcos. FOTO pic.twitter.com/jxsDwJ8q3Z
RigobertoGonzaz</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/YosefMel">YosefMel— InfoEmergencias (@InfoEmerg) July 7, 2014
Cracks opened up in buildings in San Marcos, and there were also landslides in the area, authorities said. Raul Hernandez, a spokesman for fire services in Guatemala, said that the in region of San Marcos his unit had reports of 30 houses damaged. Alejandro Maldonado, director of Guatemala’s emergency authority, CONRED, confirmed that three people had been killed. Emergency services in the Mexican border state of Chiapas later announced that a man had been killed by a collapsed wall in Huixtla.
Personal de PC se encuentra acompañando a los familiares de la persona fallecida por caida de barda en Huixtla.
— PC Chiapas (@pcivilchiapas) July 7, 2014
Tapachula Airport, Mexico
Aeropuerto de Tapachula, luego del #sismo que se sintió esta mañana en #Chiapas y #Guatemala. ( vía
Chechetc</a> ) <a href="http://t.co/p5t0K9fTW5">pic.twitter.com/p5t0K9fTW5</a></p>— Ciro por la mañana (CiroGomezL) July 7, 2014
The quake was centred 35 kilometres west-southwest of Tapachula in the Mexican state of Chiapas at a depth of about 75 kilometres. Authorities in Chiapas said there was no tsunami threat, despite the epicentre being on the coast.
The earthquake was also felt in El Salvador and Mexico City.
Pictures tweeted by Volunteer Fire Service, San Marcos, Guatemala
Vivienda dañada en aldea Patí, San Rafael Pie de La Cuesta, San Marcos.
BVoluntarios</a> rescataron a tres ocupantes. <a href="http://t.co/5CTGFB8Um8">pic.twitter.com/5CTGFB8Um8</a></p>— Bomberos Voluntarios (BVoluntarios) July 7, 2014
Pictures of damage in Huixtla, Chiapas state, Mexico
Así los daños en Huixtla tras sismo de 6.6 grados vía
SkyAlertMx</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Efekto10">Efekto10riva_leo</a> <a href="http://t.co/aD0xnDIAiD">pic.twitter.com/aD0xnDIAiD</a></p>— Verónica López (verolopez_10) July 7, 2014
#Chiapas Daños por el temblor de 6.9 Richter, en Huixtla. pic.twitter.com/ghzxdihgm8
— Amador Narcia (@amadornarcia) July 7, 2014