Mexico reports no casualties or damage from strong quake

Mexico City, Agency
Thursday's strong earthquake in the Gulf of California caused no casualties or damage, Mexican authorities said.
"The temblor was very strongly felt, but no damage has been detected," the chief seismologist at the Autonomous National University of Mexico, Carlos Valdes, told.

While Mexican scientists rated the quake as a magnitude-6.5, the U.S. Geological Service said the intensity was 6.9 on the Richter scale.

Authorities in the two states nearest the earthquake, Baja California Sur and Sinaloa, confirmed the lack of casualties or significant damage.

People in Baja California Sur's capital, La Paz, noticed the quake and schools and government buildings were briefly evacuated, a state emergency management official said.

Workers at hotels in the coastal resort town of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, said guests were asked to leave the building for no more than two or three minutes.

The earthquake struck at 11:53 a.m. (1753 GMT) and its epicenter was 105 kilometers (65 miles) south of Los Mochis and 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast de La Paz, according to the USGS.