5.8 magnitude earthquake shakes downtown Mexico City without causing damage

More fear than harm. An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 shook downtown Mexico City on Thursday, December 7, the Mexican seismological service said. According to the mayor, Marti Batres, “no damage” has not yet been identified. “It seems that the shaking was not that strong”also tempered the President of the Republic, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, promising other information.

Residents took to the streets of the capital when the seismic alert sounded shortly after 2 p.m. local time (9 p.m. in France), AFP noted. The epicenter was located in the state of Puebla, about a hundred kilometers south of the megacity with more than nine million inhabitants.

Mexico lies between five tectonic plates, whose movements make the country one of the most seismic in the world, particularly on its Pacific coast to the west. Part of Mexico City, mainly the center, sits on the muddy floor of an ancient lake, making it particularly susceptible to earthquakes.