Buildings in the state of Guerrero were evacuated but no major damage is expected

Acapulco, Mexico

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the state of Guerrero in Mexico yesterday (March 20th). The region was luckily only sparsely populated and no major injuries or damages have been reported so far.

The earthquake struck close to the border between Guerrero and the southern state of Oaxaca. It was followed by an aftershock that caused buildings about 200 miles north of the epicentre to sway for roughly sixty seconds, according to catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide.

Buildings were evacuated. Residents also felt the earthquake in the resort city of Acapulco, nearly 200 kilometres east of the earthquake’s epicentre.

In the epicentral region 500 houses were damaged. The earthquake was felt most strongly of all in the neighbouring state of Oaxaca. Even there, however, damage reports have been minimal.

“The tectonic setting of western Oaxaca is shaped by the subduction of the Cocos plate beneath the North American plate along a zone known as the Middle American trench, which repeatedly generates large magnitude earthquake events,” said Dr. Tao Lai, Principal Engineer at AIR Worldwide.

“Since 1973, the region within 200 kilometres of the epicentre of today’s event has experienced 20 seismic events exceeding M 6.0, and seven events exceeding M 7.0. In 2010 a M6.3 earthquake occurred 52 km southeast of today’s quake, and in 1982 a  M7.2 event occurred about 7 kilometres from today’s temblor.” 

Due to the repetitive and destructive nature of earthquakes in Mexico building codes are among the most comprehensive in the world explained AIR.

However, the loss potential is exacerbated by poor workmanship, inadequate materials, and a lack of building code enforcement.