A magnitude 5.0 earthquake in Oaxaca state set off cell phone alerts in Mexico City on Thursday morning, but initial reports indicated it caused no injuries or significant damage.
The quake struck near the Oaxaca coast at 8:40 a.m., with an epicenter in Crucecita, about 25 kilometers from Santa María Huatulco. It occurred at a shallow depth of about 19.4 kilometers (12 miles), according to Mexico’s National Seismological Service (SSN).
Light shaking was felt in Oaxaca and in parts of southern Veracruz and western Chiapas. Aside from objects falling from shelves, broken windows and the like, damage is unlikely, but it could take several hours for comprehensive assessments, especially in remote areas.
Though mobile alerts popped up on many people’s phones throughout Mexico City — including on reporters’ phones during the morning press conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — the magnitude and depth of the quake some 500 kilometers away did not warrant the activation of the seismic alert over loudspeakers.
Mexico City Mayor Martí Batres said on the social media site X that “everything is calm and orderly” in Mexico City, where the quake “was totally imperceptible.” The earthquake did not activate the seismic alert in Oaxaca city either.
The National Civil Protection Coordination (CNPC) relayed an assessment from the Navy’s Tsunami Warning Center (CAT-SEMAR) that there would “be no danger to port operations or the population” along the Oaxaca coast. Mexico’s Ministry of Risk Management and Civil Protection (SGIRPC) noted on X that it was in communication with mayors’ offices.
Oaxaca’s Civil Protection office wrote on X at 11:10 a.m. that “because the earthquake was perceptible in the majority of the state with a moderate intensity, the regional delegations began their monitoring in the [state´s] eight regions to verify possible damage, which so far has not occurred.”
Oaxaca and other areas suffered significant damage in a magnitude 8.2 earthquake on Sept. 7, 2017 that struck off Mexico’s southern coast near the state of Chiapas. It shook all of Mexico City, generated a tsunami with waves 1.75 meters (5.75 feet) above tide level and killed at least 98 people, including 78 in Oaxaca state. Oaxaca also experienced a 7.4 earthquake on March 20, 2012, causing significant damage in the region.
