Mexico earthquake: Tsunami warnings triggered, 3 killed

The interior ministry said the quake had a magnitude of 8.4

An earthquake of magnitude 8.1 struck off the southern coast of Mexico late on Thursday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, killing at least three people, triggering small tsunami waves and damaging some buildings.

The two fatalities came in the southern state of Chiapas, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said. The quake hit off the coast of Chiapas.

The interior ministry said the quake had a magnitude of 8.4, while the US Geological Survey put it at a revised 8.1, up from 8.0 initially.

Mexico's civil protection agency said it was the strongest earthquake to hit the country since a devastating 1985 tremor that toppled buildings and killed thousands.

People in Mexico City ran out into the streets in pyjamas and alarms sounded after the quake struck just before midnight, a Reuters witness said. Power went out in some neighbourhoods.

"I had never been anywhere where the earth moved so much. At first I laughed, but when the lights went out I didn't know what to do. I nearly fell over," said Luis Carlos Briceno, an architect, 31, who was visiting Mexico City.

The epicentre was 123 km (76 miles) southwest of the town of Pijijiapan, at a depth of 33 km (21 miles). Widespread, hazardous tsunami waves were possible, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.