7.0 earthquake shakes southwestern Mexico

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in Acapulco, Mexico, on Tuesday at 8:47 p.m., local time, shaking portions of southwestern Mexico and causing power outages.

Power flashes lit up the night sky as the earthquake rumbled and left parts of the Acapulco area without electricity. Damage to phone lines and electrical wiring were reported. Some blackouts were also reported in Tlatelolco, Mexico. As of Tuesday night, around 1.6 million people were without power across five states in Mexico, and 13% of residents in Mexico City were experiencing power outages following the earthquake.

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The earthquake even affected areas over 230 miles away from its center, including Mexico City. Residents were trapped in a wobbling cable-bus in the rain as the earthquake shook the area.

People flooded the streets of these cities in case of collapse, and buildings were evacuated. Helicopters flew over Mexico City in search of structural damage.

The governor of Guerrero, Mexico, Héctor Astudillo Flores, said there is concern that aftershocks will continue and worsen damage. There has been at least one casualty so far due to a falling pole in Coyuca de Benitez, Mexico. Another man died of cardiac arrest in Pino Suarez, Mexico.

Shortly after the 7.0 earthquake near Acapulco, a 4.9 magnitude aftershock occurred to the northwest. According to the Sismologico Nacional, a total of 92 aftershocks were recorded on Tuesday night.

Acapulco's Mayor Adela Román told television news outlet Milenio that there have been "many gas leaks in many places" as well as landslides and fallen walls.

According to the U.S. Tsunami Warning System, there was a brief tsunami threat associated with this quake late Tuesday night for portions of Mexico's coastline. The threat has since passed as of Wednesday morning. There were no threats to the coastlines of both Japan and the Philippines.

"The next several days will feature a typical summertime pattern with afternoon pop-up thunderstorms in the Mexico City area," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva.

Showers are expected to dwindle throughout Tuesday night in Mexico City, though showers and thunderstorms are expected to return on Wednesday in both Mexico City and Acapulco.

"Anyone assisting with the earthquake cleanup will want to keep an eye to the sky for these pop-up afternoon storms," said DaSilva.

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