Strong tremor in Mexico, causing panic

A strong earthquake shook southern and central Mexico Friday, causing panic less than six months after two devastating quakes that killed hundreds of people.

No buildings collapsed, according to early reports. But two towns near the epicentre, in the southern state of Oaxaca, reported damage and state authorities said they had opened emergency shelters.

Both Mexico's National Seismological Service and the US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.2.

It triggered Mexico City's alarm system and caused buildings to sway in the capital. It was also felt in the states of Guerrero, Puebla and Michoacan.

Panicked residents flooded into the streets, fearing a repeat of the two quakes last September, which caused buildings to collapse and killed a total of 465 people.

"To be honest, we're all pretty upset. We start crying whenever the (earthquake) alarm goes off," 38-year-old publicist Kevin Valladolid told AFP through tears after evacuating from his building in La Roma, in central Mexico City.

"We're stressed out, we have flashbacks. So we run out into the street. It's all we can do."

On the north side of the city, Julia Hernandez said she felt like she was "in a boat" as the ground swayed beneath her feet.

Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera reported "very minor" damage in the capital.

That included reports of a wall that collapsed in the upscale Condesa neighbourhood, which was hit hard by last year's quakes.

A nearby hospital evacuated patients into the street, some in wheelchairs or carting their IV lines. Similar scenes played out in Veracruz.

The quake struck at a relatively deep 24.7 kilometres, said the US Geological Survey, which put the epicentre 37 kilometres (22 miles) northeast of Pinotepa de Don Luis, in Oaxaca.

A 5.9-magnitude aftershock hit nearly an hour later.