MEXICO CITY — A strong earthquake struck central Mexico on Monday, swaying tall buildings in the capital and sending office workers into the streets. It rattled nerves in a city already tense from the swine-flu outbreak.
“I’m scared,” said Sarai Luna Pajas, a 22-year-old social-services worker standing outside her office building. “We Mexicans are not used to living with so much fear, but all that is happening — the economic crisis, the illnesses and now this — it feels like the apocalypse.”
The Interior Ministry said there were no reports of damages anywhere in the country.
The quake had a magnitude of 5.6 and was centered near Chilpancingo, about 130 miles southwest of Mexico City or 50 miles from the resort of Acapulco, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
USGS earthquake analyst Don Blakeman said the quake was felt strongly in Mexico City because the epicenter was relatively shallow and the ground under the capital — which is built on a former lake bed — tends to intensify shock waves.
Local Civil Protection officer Silvia Rod riguez said there were no injuries.
