| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2008 
Magnitude 6.3 Quake Hits Mexico; Tsunami Alert Issued
 Aaron Sheldrick - Bloomberg
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A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck near the western coast of Mexico at 7:33 p.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site. A tsunami warning was issued for coastal areas within 100 kilometers (60 miles).
The earthquake hit 255 kilometers southwest of the city of Colima at a depth of 42 kilometers, the USGS said. The epicenter was 690 kilometers west-southwest of Mexico City.
"Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within 100 kilometers," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin. "No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists."
The center put the magnitude of the quake at 6.5. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Mexico lies in a zone where the North American, Cocos and Caribbean plates meet. These tectonic plates constantly shift, sometimes causing earthquakes which occasionally produce tsunamis. Earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more can cause considerable damage depending on their depth.
A magnitude 8 quake in September 1985 killed at least 9,500 people in Mexico and destroyed more than 4,000 buildings in Mexico City, according to the USGS Web site. Some reports put the death toll at 35,000, the USGS said.
To contact the reporter for this story: Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo at asheldrick(at)bloomberg.net. |
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