7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes southern Mexico

June 23 (UPI) -- A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck near Mexico's southern coast Tuesday and could be felt more than 400 miles away in the capital city, local officials said.

The epicenter of the temblor was about 23 miles southwest of the coastal city of La Crucecita in Oaxaca state and located at a depth of about 16 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

There were no reports of deaths or serious damage in the country, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said. It's unclear how severe the impact was closer to the epicenter.

"It started really slow ... and then very quickly it notched up very fast," Richard Hanson told The Guardian.

Hanson runs Tejiendo Alianzas, a non-governmental organization in the city of Oaxaca, about 90 miles southeast of the epicenter. He said people ran out of buildings and into open space for safety.

"Our fan was moving around a lot, you could hear the noise of the walls and the earth moving, things started falling off the shelves in the kitchen and crashing and breaking on the ground."

Mexican news service Televisa reported that shaking also was felt in the Tlaxcala, Tabasco and Puebla states.