A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck the Pacific coast near the Mexico-Guatemala border on Friday. Though the tremor was felt across a wide swath of Central America—stretching from Mexico City to El Salvador—authorities reported no severe structural damage or fatalities in either nation.
The earthquake briefly triggered tsunami warnings along the coastline. The U.S. Tsunami Warning System initially issued an alert for hazardous waves within 186 miles of the epicenter, though the threat was later declared over. In Mexico, the Meteorological Service of Chiapas warned of potential waves reaching up to 3.3 feet. Consequently, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that early assessments showed no major damage, while the nation's navy advised residents to stay away from beaches for six hours. In the border town of Suchiate, Mayor Elmer Vázquez Gallardo noted that local authorities were actively monitoring coastal zones.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the main 7.3 magnitude quake struck at a depth of nine miles, with its epicenter located roughly 30 miles southwest of Aquiles Serdan, near the Chiapas coast. The event was preceded by a smaller offshore quake and followed by at least 10 aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 4.9 to 6.0.
While major devastation was avoided, southern Mexico reported two injuries. In Tapachula, the main city on Mexico's southern border, the tremor began mildly but gradually intensified. During the panic, a Haitian migrant woman in her 30s suffered a panic attack and leaped 13 feet from an apartment building. Demetrio Martínez, the head of Tapachula's Civil Protection agency, reported that she was hospitalized with fractures but is expected to survive. The second injury involved a person cut by a broken window at a local 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, an administrative employee at a public hospital in the city, explained to The Associated Press.
Further inland in Chiapas, the state capital of Tuxtla Gutierrez experienced scenes of panic, particularly in its taller structures. Araceli Sanchez, a government employee working in a 15-story building, described the terrifying ordeal as she fled down the emergency stairs, noting that it felt horrible and left some people in tears.
In Mexico City, where skyscrapers creaked and swayed, the capital's automated earthquake alarm system remained silent. Government officials explained that the alarm was not triggered because the energy released during the initial seconds did not meet the required threshold.
Across the border in Guatemala, the prolonged duration of the shaking caused widespread alarm. Many residents rushed into the streets during the morning rush hour. Although Guatemala's National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction reported no immediate structural failures, social media footage captured landslides blocking roads in the western part of the country. To ensure student safety, the Ministry of Education suspended in-person classes in the departments of Retalhuleu, Suchitepéquez, San Marcos, and Quetzaltenango, all of which lie near the epicenter.
In San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, residents also reported strong shaking, though no casualties or damage were recorded. The country's Ministry of Environment also noted a separate, weaker earthquake off the coast of the Usulután department.
This seismically active region has a history of devastating events. Earlier this year, a strong earthquake in southern and central Mexico claimed two lives, and a 7.1 magnitude quake in 2017 killed hundreds in Mexico City. The latest tremor occurred as Venezuela continues to recover from twin earthquakes on June 24, which claimed over 4,800 lives and destroyed hundreds of buildings in the coastal state of La Guaira.
