The magnitude-8.0 earthquake off the coast of Chiapas, Mexico, does not appear to be a tsunami threat to Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tonight.
The magnitude-8.0 earthquake off the coast of Chiapas, Mexico, does not appear to be a tsunami threat to Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tonight.
It will generate a threat locally in Mexico since it is off the coast and is a large quake, said a spokesman for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
The earthquake occurred at 6:49 p.m. Hawaii time Thursday.
The quake caused buildings to sway violently and people to flee into the street in panic as far away as the capital city.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake’s epicenter was 165 kilometers (102 miles) west of Tapachula in southern Chiapas state not far from Guatemala. It had a depth of 35 kilometers.
The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said the earthquake was a potential tsunami threat to several Central American countries, including the Pacific coastlines of Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
According to the Pacific Tsunami Weather Center, tsunami waves for some coasts of Mexico could reach 10 feet above the tide level.
Even distant Mexico City the quake was felt so strongly that frightened residents gathered in the streets in the dark, often in their pajamas, fearing that buildings would collapse.