Strong quake shakes Mexico

MEXICO CITY — A strong earthquake shook southern and central Mexico Friday, causing panic less than six months after two devastating quakes that killed hundreds of people.

No buildings collapsed, according to early reports. But two towns near the epicenter, in the southern state of Oaxaca, reported damage and state authorities said they had opened emergency shelters.

Later in the day, a helicopter en route to the scene carrying the country's interior minister and the governor of Oaxaca crash landed, killing two people on the ground even as the passengers survived.

Both Mexico's National Seismological Service and the US Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 7.2. It triggered Mexico City's alarm system and caused buildings to sway in the capital. It was also felt in the states of Guerrero, Puebla and Michoacan.

Panicked residents flooded into the streets, fearing a repeat of the two quakes last September, which caused buildings to collapse and killed a total of 465 people.

Officials in affected states said they were inspecting buildings damaged by last year's quakes, which are especially vulnerable to collapse.

President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted that the National Emergency Committee had been activated because of the magnitude of the quake. Emergency management authorities said there were no reports of major damage so far.