Southern Mexico swayed by quake

I must tell you that we were in Mexico City when this quake happened, and we didn't feel anything. As a matter of fact things were operating on a status quo in Mexico City yesterday. Upon reflection, I'm quite happy that I didn't feel anything, that would have probably freaked me out just a bit. The following article is an Associated Press article from the Dallas Morning News.

Magnitude-6 temblor frightens but doesn't cause major damage

11:17 PM CDT on Friday, April 13, 2007

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY – A strong earthquake swayed tall buildings from Acapulco to Mexico City early Friday, jolting people awake and sending many fleeing to spend the rest of the night outside.

The country escaped the magnitude-6 quake with no deaths or widespread destruction, but several apartment buildings in Mexico City were evacuated and inspected for possible structural damage.

The quake knocked out power to 20 percent of the capital's center, provoking scattered water and gas leaks and sending fissures through building facades, national Civil Protection Director Laura Gurza said at a news conference.

At the high-rise, beachside Fairmont Acapulco Princess Hotel, hundreds of guests rushed outside, huddling on deck chairs as security officials used megaphones to urge them to remain calm.

"We flew out of bed. The building was shaking," said Marcy Olsen, 41, a Minnesota resident on vacation with her family.

One five-story apartment building in Mexico City leaned precariously, and another was riddled with fissures. About two dozen families from the two buildings spent the night in the street or in their cars. One person was injured falling down stairs trying to get outside.

Ms. Gurza said there were at least nine aftershocks before dawn, including a magnitude-5.4 tremor felt throughout much of southern Mexico and Mexico City.

At the quake's epicenter, about 40 miles northwest of Acapulco, several adobe houses were seriously damaged, while one person fell inside a factory and suffered minor injuries, Ms. Gurza said.

About 200 people in the town of Hacienda de Cabanas were forced to evacuate their homes after the quake broke open containers of chlorine at a nearby water-purification plant, local authorities said.

About 100 people from one community near Acapulco were evacuated to a park after a nearby water-treatment plant reported a chlorine leak, civil protection official Nadia Vela said.

Power had been restored to most of Acapulco and Mexico City by Friday afternoon, and gas and water leaks were being repaired.

The quake, which hit at 12:42 a.m., felt so strong because it was centered inland and just 18 miles below the earth's surface, the U.S. Geological Survey said.