Mexico President leaves podium as 6.5-magnitude quake shakes country | Video

A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Mexico city on Friday, triggering alarms and briefly disrupting President Claudia Sheinbaum’s press conference, videos circulating on social media showed.

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Clips posted online captured the moment tremors were felt inside the venue in Mexico City, with warning sirens sounding as the building experienced the quake. Reporters and staff were seen quickly moving out of the hall, while President Sheinbaum stepped away from the podium.

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The Mexican president remarked that the floor was moving under her feet before calmly stepping out with reporters, later returning to continue the briefing.

The earthquake was measured at 6.5 magnitude by Mexico’s National Seismological Service, while the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported its strength as 6.2.

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The EMSC also stated that the quake was centred near Acapulco in Guerrero state. The US Geological Survey reported that the tremor struck at a depth of about 35 km, with its epicentre located roughly 2.5 miles north-northwest of Rancho Viejo in the mountainous region, around 57 miles northeast of Acapulco, according to a report by news agency AP.

Despite the strong shaking felt in parts of the capital, President Sheinbaum later said that there were no reports of serious damage in Guerrero so far, as per a Reuters report.

Authorities said assessments were ongoing to evaluate the impact of the earthquake, while emergency services remained on alert. The dramatic visuals of the tremor interrupting the live briefing have since been widely shared across social media platforms, with another video going viral, of an entire building shaking.

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(With inputs from agencies)