7.2 Earthquake Rocks Mexico, Cuts Power to a Million Buildings

A strong 7.2 magnitude quake has shaken southern Mexico in a prolonged rumble that rocked buildings across the capital Mexico City, Reuters reports.

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The epicenter was close to the Pacific coast in the southern state of Oaxaca and had a depth of 43km, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The area is still reeling from an earthquake that caused widespread damage in September.

Oaxaca's civil protection service said only minor damage has been reported, and there were no reports of direct human fatalities. However, the powerful quake left nearly a million homes and businesses without power in the capital and south.

In Mexico City, tall buildings swayed for more than a minute as seismic alarms sounded throughout the urban center, and tremors were felt as far away as Guatemala to the south.

Television images showed thousands of people in the streets in the city center, where crowds had gathered to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Meanwhile at least two people died when a helicopter carrying Mexico's interior minister and the governor of Oaxaca crashed while trying to land after a tour of damage from the earthquake, officials said. The senior officials survived.

The powerful, sustained shaking Friday gave way to 225 aftershocks, the national seismology service said, and caused widespread panic.

Patricia Gutierrez, a 66-year-old English teacher, was taking a nap with her 11-month-old granddaughter, Juliet, when she heard the alarm.

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"She recognized the sound. When I opened my eyes, I saw her eyes in terror. Her eyes were wide, like plates. She didn't say anything," Gutierrez said of her granddaughter.

Gutierrez managed to leave her ground floor apartment before the quake began. "I left the phone and everything except for my shoes and the baby," she said.

Guadalupe Martinez, a 64-year-old retiree, said she was still shaking from shock. But the quake was a far cry from the tremors that struck Mexico in September, Martinez said.

"This time it was strong, but it did not jump up and down," she said.

On September 19, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale devastated Mexico City, causing the collapse of buildings across the metropolis and killing at least 360 people.

More than 88 buildings and 422 schools still need urgent structural repairs and are considered to be at 'high-risk' of collapse.