The massive 8.1 earthquake off Mexico’s southern coast was so strong it made tall buildings sway in the capital, more than 1000 kilometres away. People fled their homes in panic, some in their pyjamas.

“It was horrible. I never felt anything so ugly in my life. It was small at first. But then it started shaking a lot and it was crazy so we started to go down the stairs. Once we were going down the stairs it shook even
stronger and it felt like we were getting rung like a bell, and that was terrible,” said one woman.

“You could hear the building creak, the lights were out, so I grabbed a friend, and I cried, I cried because it scared me a lot. It scared me because I had never lived through anything like that. I had experienced
tremors before, but never heard the walls creak, lights going out, and so many people,” said another.

“The swaying was very ugly, very very hard,” said one man.

“I realised right away it was an earthquake). I put my jacket on, turned off the TV, and I went out, and outside the street was full of people coming out of the building, out of the apartments. Everybody in their
pyjamas, getting their dogs out and all. Yes, it was very strong.”

Some areas were blacked out after power lines came down, and strong aftershocks prevented people from returning to their homes for hours.