POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE SHAKES SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MEXICO.

 
A powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook southern and central Mexico Friday, causing people to flee swaying buildings and office towers in the country's capital, where residents were still jittery after a deadly quake five months ago.

Crowds of people gathered on Mexico City's central Reforma Avenue as well as on streets in Oaxaca state's capital, nearer the quake's epicenter, which was in a rural area close to Mexico's Pacific coast and the border with Guerrero state.

It was still scared thinking of the September 19 earthquake that caused 228 deaths in the capital and 141 more in nearby states. Many buildings in Mexico City still show damage from that quake.

Mexican Civil Protection chief Luis Felipe Fuente tweeted that there were no immediate reports of major damage from Friday's quake. In Oaxaca, Governor Alejandro Murat said via Twitter that damage was being evaluated, but there were deaths reported so far.

The Red Cross said the facade from a building collapsed in Mexico City's Condesa neighborhood, which was hit hard on September 19.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's preliminary magnitude at 7.2 and said its epicenter was 33 miles (53 kilometers) northeast of Pinotepa in Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles (24 kilometers).

About an hour after the quake, a magnitude 5.8 aftershock centered in southern Mexico caused tall buildings in Mexico City to briefly sway again.

USGS seismologist Paul Earle said Friday's earthquake appeared to be a separate temblor, rather than an aftershock of a September 8 earthquake also centered in Oaxaca, which registered a magnitude of 8.2. The September 19 earthquake struck closer to Mexico City.

The September 8 quake killed nearly 100 people in Oaxaca and neighboring Chiapas, but was centered about 273 miles (440 kilometers) southwest of Friday's earth quake.

But there are no sign of damage reported.