Magnitude 7.3 quake strikes Mexico-Guatemala border, triggers brief tsunami alert

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit the southern Mexican Pacific coast on Friday, with its epicenter about 30 miles southwest of Aquiles Serdán in Chiapas, at a depth of 9 miles. The tremor was felt from Mexico City to El Salvador and prompted a short-lived tsunami alert for coastal areas within 186 miles of the epicenter.

The U.S. Geological Survey recorded at least ten aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.9 to 6. Local authorities reported two injuries in southern Mexico, including a Haitian migrant woman who suffered fractures after jumping from a balcony, and a minor injury from broken glass at a nearby business.

"We were upstairs on the second floor when it started shaking; we thought it would pass, but then it got stronger, so we all went downstairs and evacuated in an orderly manner to the front courtyard," Alejandra Mendoza, a hospital employee in Tapachula, told the Associated Press.

In the state capital Tuxtla Gutiérrez, panic was reported in several high-rise buildings, and a government employee described the experience as "horrible" and said people were crying as they fled down emergency stairs. Guatemala’s National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction said no immediate damage was observed, though social media showed videos of landslides on western roads.

Mexico’s Ministry of Education suspended in-person classes in four departments near the epicenter, and the navy advised the public to stay away from beaches for six hours due to the tsunami risk. The alert was later lifted after monitoring indicated no hazardous waves.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said preliminary reports showed no significant damage, and the Mexican government noted that the initial seismic energy did not exceed the threshold to trigger an earthquake alert in Mexico City.