Man killed in northwest Mexican quake

A strong 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Sunday rocked Mexico's northern Baja California state, causing minor damage and killing at least one people, according to latest reports.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake occurred at 5:40 p.m. local time (2240 GMT) with a depth of 10 km.

The epicenter was some 26 km south-southwest of Guadalupe Victoria, 173km east-southeast of Tijuana, which borders the U.S. city of San Diego, California.

The civil protection service in Baja California said the government building and a hospital in the state capital of Mexicali were reported to have sustained damage.

A man was killed when his home building collapsed outside of Mexicali, close to the epicenter of the earthquake.

Meanwhile, electricity and telephone communications were disrupted in part of Mexicali, and emergency departments were resorting to radio communication in their after-quake work.

Reporters with the local media told Xinhua that the walls and windows of some buildings in the Old City area of the city were damaged. The facade of a hardest-hit building almost collapsed.

Chinese Consul General in Tijuana Gao Shoujian told Xinhua that no immediate Chinese casualties were reported.

Gao said the powerful earthquake caused buildings to creak and shook water out of a nearby swimming pool at the time of its occurrence.


【1】 【2】