An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 shakes the region of Chiapas, in Mexico

BarcelonaMexico's National Seismological Service registered a magnitude 7.4 earthquake on the Richter scale in the south of the country this Friday, with the epicenter 135 kilometers south of Ciudad Hidalgo (in the state of Chiapas), near the border with Guatemala. Mexican authorities have ruled out damage, and Guatemalan authorities have also ruled out fatalities. The United States Tsunami Warning System has issued a tsunami alert for the coasts located less than 300 km from the epicenter.

The most affected area is the coast of Chiapas and Oaxaca, states in southern Mexico, where sea level variations of up to 105 centimeters above the tide are expected. This was indicated by the Tsunami Warning Center of the Mexican Navy Secretariat (CAT-SEMAR), which issued a statement recommending "keeping the population away from beaches until the alert is canceled." "Strong currents are expected at the entrance to ports," it warned.

The earthquake, which occurred at 08:48 local time, with the epicenter at a depth of 10 kilometers, particularly affected the Mexican city of Puerto Madero, an important port in the south of the country, and was also felt in Guatemala and El Salvador. In the capital of the state of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, as in other localities in the area, several workers were evacuated from public buildings, as detailed by the local newspaper La Jornada. Similarly, according to reports from Reuters witnesses and as can be seen in images shared on social media, in Guatemala City dozens of people evacuated buildings as a precaution when they felt tremors. Minutes later, at least two aftershocks with magnitudes of 4.5 and 5.8 were registered.

The Secretary of the Mexican Navy, Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, confirmed that the earthquake did not leave serious damage, but warned of a possible increase in sea level on some beaches. For its part, the Civil Protection Secretariat of Chiapas explained on X that it is "active" and is monitoring the situation in the different regions of the state, without offering further details at the moment.