A magnitude-6.9 earthquake on the Pacific Coast jolted a wide area of southern Mexico and Central America Monday, killing at least three people and damaging dozens of homes.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit at 6:23 a.m. (7:23 a.m. EDT) on the Pacific Coast 1 mile (2 kilometers) north-northeast of Puerto Madero, near the Guatemala border. It initially calculated the magnitude at 7.1 but later lowered the figure to 6.9.
Firefighters spokesman Raul Hernandez said at least two people died in their homes from collapsed walls in the Guatemalan town of Pati, in the border province of San Marcos.
The civil defense office in the Mexican state of Chiapas reported on its Twitter account that one man had been killed in Huixtla by a collapsed wall.
Hernandez reported damage in at least 30 homes in Guatemala, as well as landslides and toppled utility poles.
There were reports of power outages and rock slides on some roadways in Guatemala. Photos posted on social media sites and published by the Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre showed buildings with huge cracks across their facades in San Marcos, and one which apparently suffered a partial collapse.
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