The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. It’s mainly the tourists who are shaken Details of the quake, from USGS Time.com reported that the quake shook Mexico City for at least 30 seconds with buildings swaying as people fled from high rise buildings to the streets Mexico City is vulnerable even to distant earthquakes because much of it sits atop the muddy sediments of drained lake beds that quiver as quake waves hit a magnitude-8.1 quake killed at least 6,000 people in Mexico City and destroyed many buildings despite being centered 250 miles (400 kilometers) away on the Pacific Coast According to USGS: [Mexico is] located atop three of the large tectonic plates [and] is one of the world’s most seismically active regions The relative motion of these crustal plates causes frequent earthquakes and occasional volcanic eruptions Most of the Mexican landmass is on the westward moving North American plate The Pacific Ocean floor south of Mexico is being carried northeastward by the underlying Cocos plate when the Pacific Ocean floor encounters the lighter continental crust of the Mexican landmass the ocean floor is subducted beneath the North American plate creating the deep Middle American trench along Mexico’s southern coast the westward moving Mexico landmass is slowed and crumpled creating the mountain ranges of southern Mexico and earthquakes near Mexico’s southern coast it melts; the molten material is then forced upward through weaknesses in the overlying continental crust This process has created a region of volcanoes across south-central Mexico known as the Cordillera Neovolcánica Bottom line: A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake took place this morning in southern and central Mexico where many Mexicans are vacationing for the Easter holiday There are no immediate reports of injuries or damages We will update as we receive more information We invite you to visit our campaign page to discover why we need your contributions now more than ever to preview an illustration from Guy Ottewell’s great book that we're helping finalize and to learn more about EarthSky’s history “Things are always so much more peaceful when looking up.” We couldn’t agree more we apologize for the popup and greatly appreciate your support You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed A moderate magnitude 4.2 earthquake hit 16 km (10 mi) away from Atoyac de Alvarez, Estado de Guerrero,  Mexico 2025 at 9.49 pm local time (America/Mexico City GMT -6) The quake had a shallow depth of 44 km (28 mi) and was reported felt by some people near the epicenter.