People were evacuated from a building in El Salvador. Image@ Reuters
A strong earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck in the Pacific Ocean off southern Mexico on Friday, prompting tsunami warnings across sections of the Central American coastline before authorities later declared the danger over.
Officials in Mexico reported no deaths or major destruction following the tremor, which was also experienced in neighbouring Guatemala and El Salvador.
Emergency authorities nevertheless advised residents and visitors to avoid coastal areas as a precaution.
Speaking at a media briefing, Mexico’s Navy Secretary, Admiral Raymundo Morales, said preliminary assessments showed no severe consequences from the earthquake, although safety measures remained in place while authorities monitored conditions along the coast.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially cautioned that dangerous sea surges could affect parts of Mexico and Guatemala.
However, later observations detected only minor increases in sea level, with waves reaching about 0.3 metres above normal tide levels near Puerto Madero and Chiapas, leading officials to withdraw the warning.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at 8:49 a.m. local time near the coastal community of Puerto Madero at a depth of approximately 15 kilometres beneath the seabed.
Authorities in Oaxaca and Chiapas, the two southern states closest to the epicentre, said inspections had not uncovered significant structural damage.
Chiapas Governor Eduardo Ramírez temporarily halted government operations and encouraged private businesses to suspend activities while emergency assessments were carried out.
The shaking was also felt across Guatemala and El Salvador, where residents evacuated buildings and gathered in open spaces as a precaution.
Several aftershocks, ranging between magnitudes 4.7 and 6.0, were recorded in the hours that followed.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo confirmed that emergency response teams had been deployed after a separate magnitude 5.6 tremor centred near Quetzaltenango.
He said no casualties had been reported and urged citizens to remain calm and comply with official safety directives.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projected only small sea-level changes, less than 0.3 metres, for coastlines in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
NOAA explained that tsunami activity can continue for several hours, with successive waves arriving minutes apart.
It warned that even relatively small surges can pose serious risks to people in or near the water and urged coastal communities to remain vigilant and follow instructions issued by emergency authorities.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong