MEXICO CITY (AP) — An earthquake strongly shook southern and central Mexico on Friday, interrupting President Claudia Sheinbaum's first press conference of the new year and shaking the Pacific coast of Guerrero. No serious damage or casualties were reported at this time.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5 degrees, according to the United States Geological Survey, and had its epicenter near the town of San Marcos, about 70 kilometers southeast of the tourist port of Acapulco. It was felt in seven states in the country and, according to the federal government, it had more than 150 aftershocks. The highest, according to the US Geological Survey, was 4.5 degrees.

Roberto Arroyo, secretary of civil protection of Guerrero, explained that aftershocks are normal in this type of earthquake, strong but fortunately brief. The tremor lasted approximately 33 seconds. The official said there was no tsunami warning.

The governor of Guerrero, Evelyn Salgado, confirmed that no victims or major damage had been reported in that state and in San Marcos - where only some adobe houses were partially affected - in a broadcast made through Facebook together with the entire emergency team hours after the earthquake. The group experienced one of the replicas live.

The official added that in some hotels in Acapulco ceilings fell and glass was broken, something that was also repeated at the international airport of that town, but there was no structural damage in any of those places. Yes, there were minor landslides and rocks on some roads, but it indicated that the main road connecting Acapulco with the center of the country was operating without problems.

The federal government also reported minor damage to three health facilities in the state and military authorities indicated that in some parts of Guerrero there were problems with communications.

José Raymundo Díaz Taboada, a doctor and human rights defender who lives on one of the hills surrounding the port of Acapulco, told AP that he was lying down when he began to feel a loud noise and the barking of dogs that all the neighbors in his area identify with the announcement of an earthquake.

“At that moment the seismic alert began to sound on the cell phone... and the vibration began to be felt strongly, with a lot of noise from the cell phone. type of terrain” but with smaller shakes than in previous tremors, he explained while preparing an emergency backpack for the continuation of the aftershocks.

The cell phone alarm, which was activated at least in Acapulco and the capital, is an alert system recently launched by the Mexican government.

Díaz Taboada said that he had not been able to communicate with several colleagues from the so-called Costa Chica, the closest to the epicenter, because communications were cut off.

In Mexico City, President Sheinbaum resumed the press conference ten minutes after the earthquake.

No significant damage was reported in the capital either. The earthquake shook the tallest buildings and in others, instead of movement, noises could be heard from inside the walls, several AP journalists confirmed.

Many people left their homes in pajamas and with their pets in their arms while they observed the power cables or the trees to review the impact that the tremor had had.