By Ben Tavener
SAO PAULO, Brazil
Life in Mexico returned to normal after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook parts of the country for up to 90 seconds Friday morning. The quake's epicenter was recorded in the western state of Guerrero at 9:27 a.m. local time.
A number of cities, including the capital, Mexico City, and Guerrero state capital, Chilpancingo, saw minor damage to buildings, roads and property. No victims were reported and only a small number of people were taken to hospital with stress- and shock-related conditions, local media reported.
Officials in a number of cities ordered buildings checked for structural damage and some people were moved as a safety precaution. Some power outages were also reported, notably in the south of Mexico City where four neighborhoods were affected after cables were dislodged.
Although the area has experienced tremors in the past, as Mexico lies in a seismically-active region bordering four tectonic plates, some residents were visibly panicked and ran out into the streets as warning sirens wailed and the quake struck, reports from local TV stations showed.
Later in the day people in a number of cities, including Mexico City, told the Anadolu Agency that life had returned to normal and that religious celebrations and processions planned for Good Friday, of great importance for the mainly Catholic country, would continue.
Mexico City was already less crowded than usual as many people had left for the Easter vacation.
The seaside resort city of Acapulco, located a relatively short distance from the epicenter of Friday's quake and favored by tourists, did not suffer any damage, its municipal president said, although a number of tourists were reported to have been shocked by the ordeal.
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