Mexico earthquake MAP: Where is Oaxaca? Will there be another earthquake?

Thousands of people were seen fleeing buildings from Mexico City after the earthquake hit on Friday and terrifying footage of swaying buildings was shared by residents and office workers on social media.

The epicentre was about 90 miles from the Pacific coast resort of Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca.

About one million homes and businesses were left without power in the region, including Mexico City.

Although no-one is known to have died in the quake, two people were killed when a military helicopter surveying the aftermath crashed.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that there was no tsunami threat.

Where is Oaxaca?

The state of Oaxaca located in the south-west of Mexico, is the fifth-largest in the country and one of 31 states in total.

It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the south and neighbouring states Guerrero, Puebla and Veracruz and Chiapas.

Mexico City sits approximately 300 miles north of the city of Oaxaca, based in the centre of the state.

Known for its indigenous people and cultures, diverse Oaxaca numbers about 3.5 million people and has the 10th highest population in the country.

About 100,000 people in the state were said to have lost power during Friday¹s earthquake.

The Oaxacan town of Jamiltepec appeared to sustain the heaviest impact in the southern region, with 50 homes damaged along with a church and government building, the state’s civil protection agency said.

In the town of Pinotepa Nacional close to the quake’s epicentre, a hospital was damaged and a collapsed structure blocked a major highway.

Will there be another earthquake?

More than 100 people died in the Chiapas earthquake on September 7 last year and 370 people died in the September 19 2017 earthquake, which shook

Central Mexico with a 7.1 magnitude. Mexico has one of the world¹s most seismic active regions being above a subduction zone, the boundaries of where tectonic plates meet.

It sits above Earth¹s largest tectonic plates – the North American, Cocos and Pacific plates – and experiences regular earthquake activity.

There have been around 225 aftershocks since the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit, according to the national seismology service said.

The local population is likely to be on high alert for the next few days in anticipation of a further mammoth earthquake hitting the area.