Mexico-Guatemala border quake triggers tsunami warning, leaves two injured

Tapachula,UPDATED: Jul 18, 2026 03:00 IST

A strong 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the southern Mexican Pacific coast near the Guatemala border on Friday and was felt from Mexico City to El Salvador. Authorities in the affected countries did not report any severe damage or casualties, though two people were injured in southern Mexico.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake's epicentre was 48 kilometres southwest of Aquiles Serdan, near the coast of Chiapas, at a depth of 15 kilometres. It was preceded by a smaller quake farther out in the ocean, and USGS recorded at least 10 aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.9 to 6. Mexican authorities also issued tsunami warnings, with the navy advising people to stay away from beaches for six hours and Chiapas' Meteorological Service warning of waves of up to 1 metre off the coasts of Mexico and Guatemala.

In Tapachula, the main city on Mexico's southern border, the tremor began mildly before growing stronger. Alejandra Mendoza, an administrative employee at a public hospital in the city, told The Associated Press, "We were upstairs on the second floor when it started shaking; we thought it would pass, but then it got stronger, so we all went downstairs and evacuated in an orderly manner to the front courtyard."

Demetrio Martinez, head of the city's Civil Protection agency, said a Haitian migrant woman in her 30s suffered a nervous breakdown and jumped about four metres from an apartment building. He said she was taken to hospital with fractures, but her life was not in danger. He added that another person suffered a minor injury from a broken window at a nearby business.

In Guatemala City, residents ran into the streets during rush hour because of how long the shaking lasted, and several buildings were evacuated. Guatemala's Coordinator for Disaster Reduction reported no immediate damage, though social media videos showed some landslides, especially on roads heading west. The Ministry of Education suspended in-person classes in the departments of San Marcos, Quetzaltenango, Suchitepequez and Retalhuleu, which are near the quake's epicentre.

In Mexico City, some buildings creaked and shook, but the earthquake alert did not sound because, the government said, "the energy radiated by the earthquake during the first few seconds did not exceed the activation thresholds." Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said preliminary reports showed no damage. In Suchiate, along the river that separates Mexico from Guatemala, Mayor Elmer Vazquez Gallardo said coastal areas were being monitored for tsunami risk. In San Salvador, the quake was also felt strongly, but no deaths or damage were reported. El Salvador's Ministry of Environment also reported another, less intense earthquake off the coast of the eastern department of Usulutan.

The region is prone to earthquakes, some of them deadly. Earlier this year, a strong earthquake shook southern and central Mexico, killing two people, while a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in 2017 killed hundreds in Mexico City. Friday's quake was felt across several countries and followed by multiple aftershocks, but no severe damage or deaths were reported.

With PTI Inputs

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