A 4.4 magnitude earthquake has hit southwest England and Wales with thousands of people reporting they felt the tremors.
It struck at approximately 2.30pm and residents in Bristol and Cornwall said they “felt buildings shake”.
The quake’s epicentre is believed to have been around eight miles northeast of Swansea city centre, according to the US Geological Survey.
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Dyfed-Pows Police confirmed the earthquake was felt in their control room and said that a high volume of calls were being experienced in relation to the incident.
MEXICO CITY -- A powerful earthquake shook south and central Mexico on Friday, causing residents to flee buildings in the country's capital. Crowds of people gathered on central Reforma Avenue in Mexico City as the ground shook.
The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's preliminary magnitude at 7.2 and said its epicenter was 33 miles, 53 kilometers, northeast of Pinotepa in Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles, or 24 kilometers. The epicenter is a rural area of western Oaxaca state near the Pacific coast and the border with Guerrero state.
Videos posted to social media showed light fixtures violently swinging inside office buildings. Others showed street and traffic lights swaying from side-to-side.
The Oaxaca state civil protection agency said via Twitter that it was monitoring the coastline.
In September, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck central Mexico, leaving 228 people dead in the capital and 369 across the region.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CLOSE A powerful magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook south and central Mexico, causing people to flee buildings and office towers in the country's capital, where residents were still jittery after a deadly quake five months ago. (Feb. 16) AP
epa06534012 People wait outside their offices and vehicles after an earthquake, in Mexico City, Mexico, 16 February 2018. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City, the center and south of the country today at 5:39 pm local time (23:39 GMT) with epicenter on the Pacific coast, reported the National Seismological Service. EPA-EFE/SASHENKA GUTIERREZ ORG XMIT: MEX52 (Photo: SASHENKA GUTIERREZ, EPA-EFE)
A massive earthquake hit Mexico Friday evening, leaving buildings shaking throughout the southern portion of the country.
The earthquake was first measured as a 7.5-magnitude and later lowered to having a 7.2-magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was found along the Pacific coast near Santiago Ixtayutla, a town in the state of Oaxaca in the southwestern area of the country.
There is no tsunami threat from the quake, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Videos on social media show people in the streets grabbing onto a car as the ground started shaking. Footage inside a building show lights swaying back and forth with people lined up along a hallway.
It's unclear if any damage or injuries were reported.
Mexico is no stranger to earthquakes. The country dealt with two back-to-back quakes in September that left hundreds dead after buildings crumbled, including schools.
More than 90 people died after the first earthquake on Sept. 7, then days later on Sept. 19, another disaster struck in Central Mexico. Several hundred were left dead.
The second tragedy landed on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, which left an estimated 9,500 people dead.
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Soldiers of the Mexican army walk in front of the military helicopter and van in Santiago Jamiltepec, Mexico, on Feb. 17, 2018. (Photo: Patricia Castellanos, AFP/Getty Images)
A military helicopter carrying officials assessing damage from a powerful earthquake crashed Friday in southern Mexico, killing 13 people, all on the ground.
Five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later at the hospital, the Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Another 15 people were injured in the incident.
Mexico’s Interior Department said that the helicopter was carrying Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Gov. Alejandro Murat, who were evaluating damage from the earthquake, when their helicopter crashed.
The helicopter crashed on top of two vans in an open field while trying to land in Santiago Jamiltepec Friday night.
The crash happened in the aftermath of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake, which left buildings shaking and people in the southern area of the country fleeing to the streets for safety.
Some of those people, fearful an aftershock could destroy their homes, were spending the night in the open field where the chopper crashed, the Associated Press reported.
A local reporter who was on board the helicopter with officials described the moments when it crashed as "chaotic," adding it all happened as they attempted to land.
Reporter Jorge Morales said they had lost visibility and the only thing he saw was the dust rising before they landed.
He told local media the helicopter felt like it slipped and he could hear the metal scraping as the aircraft crashed on a van, adding it was "horrible."
Photos from the incident show the camouflage-patterned helicopter on its side, a white and red van crushed beneath it. Chairs, what appear to be pillows and sheets and other debris litter the ground.
More: Mexico struck by massive 7.2-magnitude earthquake
The epicenter of the earthquake found along the Pacific coast near Santiago Ixtayutla, a town in the state of Oaxaca in the southwestern area of the country.
The country frequents earthquakes but escaped widespread damage Friday.
About 50 buildings suffered significant damage and others lost power for several hours, but the aftermath was nothing close to the back-to-back earthquakes last year.
More than 90 people died after the first earthquake on Sept. 7, then days later on Sept. 19, another disaster struck in Central Mexico. Several hundred were left dead.
The second tragedy landed on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, which left an estimated 9,500 people dead.
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