ACAPULCO, Mexico, Sept 9, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - A 7.1-magnitude earthquake that
struck near Mexico's Pacific resort city of Acapulco left at least one person
dead and damaged hospitals, homes, shops and hotels, authorities said
Wednesday.

  More than 200 aftershocks were recorded after the powerful tremor, whose
epicenter was 11 kilometers (seven miles) southeast of Acapulco in Guerrero
state, the National Seismological Service reported.

  The earthquake, which hit on Tuesday evening, shook buildings in the
capital Mexico City several hundred kilometers away.

  One person was killed by a falling pole in the city of Coyuca de Benitez in
Guerrero, authorities said.

  The government offices in Guerrero suffered structural damage and broken
windows, along with other public and private buildings, the state's governor,
Hector Astudillo, said.

  Only minor damage was reported in other parts of the country, including in
the earthquake-prone capital, which is built on a former lake bed.

  "We know that there was no serious damage in Puebla, in Oaxaca, in Morelos,
here in Mexico City," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said at his daily
news conference.

  - 'Nervous breakdowns' -

  Flights resumed from Acapulco airport, although initially only for private
planes.

  Utility poles and other debris fell on a number of vehicles in the city,
and the facade of a church collapsed, according to an AFP correspondent.

  Tourists evacuated hotels as a series of aftershocks, including several of
magnitude 4 or above, rattled nerves.

  "I was taking a bath and suddenly I felt a very strong movement, and then I
was scared and screamed," said a tourist from Mexico City who fled outside in
only a bath towel.

  "I came with my mom and we're on the 11th floor of the hotel," he said,
hugging his 86-year-old mother, who was crying.

  Acapulco Mayor Adela Roman said that the tremor sparked "nervous
breakdowns" in the city.

  "Yesterday we suffered fear and panic," she told Milenio television.

  "However, we were able to visit many places in Acapulco. We were visiting
the places where it was said that there were problems of gas leaks," Roman
added.

  Several hospitals suffered structural damage, although experts were still
assessing the gravity, she said.

  Authorities in Acapulco had opened sports centers for people to sleep in if
they were afraid to go home.

  Workers cleared fallen rocks from roads in the city.

  - 'Very scared' -

  The earthquake was felt strongly in Mexico City, sending residents and
tourists spilling into the streets from homes and hotels.

  "I'm very scared. I don't know if I'll sleep tonight. I'm worried about my
daughter. I woke her up to take her outside and I didn't even put my shoes
on," said 49-year-old resident Laura Villa.

  There were no immediate reports of serious damage in the capital, Mexico
City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Twitter.

  Flashes of light were seen in the sky above the capital during the
earthquake, which hit at a time when Mexico is facing a third wave of Covid-
19 infections as well as severe flooding in some areas.

  Bordered by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Mexico is one of the most
seismically active places in the world, sitting atop five tectonic plates
including three major ones.

  On September 19, 1985 an 8.1-magnitude quake in Mexico City killed more
than 10,000 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings.

  On the anniversary of that earthquake in 2017, a 7.1 quake left around 370
people dead, mainly in the capital.