A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Mexico and Guatemala on Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey, shaking buildings across three countries including neighboring El Salvador and prompting a tsunami threat alert.
The quake happened at 10:48 a.m. Eastern about 30 miles southwest of Aquiles Serdán, Mexico, U.S.G.S. data showed. The U.S. Tsunami Warning System reported Friday that waves reaching as high as 1 meter above the tide level were possible for some coasts of Guatemala and Mexico.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or fallen buildings. Videos on social media showed shaking buildings, people rushing into streets for safety and landslides in San Marcos, Mexico, sending sand flying into the air.
President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said that the southern states of Chiapas and Tabasco have so far not reported any damage and recommended that people stay away from beaches for the moment because of a latent tsunami risk.
The head of Mexico’s Navy, Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales, said at a news conference on Friday that authorities expected water levels to rise by up to 20 inches, less than U.S. warnings have predicted.
In Tapachula, a city in the Mexican state of Chiapas, preliminary reports suggested that only one building had been damaged by the earthquake, Demetrio Martínez, the head of civil protection, told reporters.
A Haitian migrant was injured after jumping off a building, Mr. Martínez said.
“So far, there have been no fatalities, and we are monitoring the situation minute by minute,” President Bernardo Arévalo of Guatemala said on social media. “I urge the public to remain calm.”
Guatemala’s Ministry of Education announced that it would suspend in-person classes on Friday as a precaution. The measure would apply to all public and private schools in four municipalities.
The Red Cross in Guatemala said it had deployed emergency responders to the six municipalities that were most affected to evaluate the earthquake’s effects.
“So far, we have conducted preliminary monitoring and have not reported any damage or injuries,” Andrés Lemus, a spokesman with the Red Cross, said in a video message.
In Quetzaltenango, the city in Guatemala closest to the epicenter, local media outlets reported that several walls had collapsed and that dozens of people were evacuated from buildings.
U.S.G.S. reported the earthquake struck at a shallow depth of about nine miles. Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage.
Friday’s tremors came less than a month after twin earthquakes rocked Venezuela, where survivors are still picking up the pieces from a disaster that has killed thousands.
Damián Sánchez contributed reporting from Tapachula, Chiapas. Elda Cantú and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega contributed from Mexico City.
