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Southern Mexico hit by 7.3 quake, triggering tsunami alert
AFP, Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Published: 17 Jul 2026, 11:24 PM
A member of the Secretariat of Citizen Security uses a megaphone to give instructions to personnel evacuated from several buildings following a preventive evacuation in Mexico City on 17 July 2026, after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck southern Mexico and parts of Central America. Photo: AFP
Southern Mexico and parts of Central America were hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake on Friday, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), with a tsunami alert issued for a stretch of the Pacific coast.
Residents felt intense tremors in the Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca as well as in Guatemala and El Salvador, AFP journalists confirmed. The authorities haven't reported any victims.
According to the USGS, the earthquake took place 48 kilometers off the coast of the Mexican town of Aquiles Serdan, at a depth of just 18 kilometres.
The US National Oceanic and Atmosphere Association (NOAA) issued a tsunami threat alert following the earthquake.
In Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of the state of Chiapas, there were scenes of panic in the few tall buildings of the city, according to an AFP journalist in the area.
"There are no serious effects," the Secretary of the Marines, Raymundo Morales, said at the end of the presidential press conference on Friday.
Local residents were urged to retreat from the beach in case of any tsunami wave.