In pics: Strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit parts of Mexico on Tuesday

In the last 35 years, there have been at least seven greater earthquakes, killing around 10,000 people most of them in a 1985 quake of 8.0 magnitude

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A powerful earthquake of 7.4 magnitude has rattled most of the southern and central Mexico, killing at least five people, swaying buildings and has sent thousands fleeing into the streets.

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Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said one person was killed and another injured in a building collapse in Huatulco, Oaxaca. Otherwise, he said reports were of minor damage from the magnitude 7.4 quake, including broken windows and collapsed walls.

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Local news media reported damage to some buildings in Oaxaca city. State officials said they were looking for damage. The USGS estimated that some 2 million people felt strong or moderate shaking and another 49 million felt weak or light shaking.

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The earthquake hit a quake-prone region where four underground tectonic plates come together.

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Groups of people still milled around in close proximity on streets and sidewalks in some neighbourhoods of the capital about an hour after the quake. Many were not wearing masks despite past appeals from municipal officials for them to do so as a way to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

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In the last 35 years, there have been at least seven magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes, killing around 10,000 people most of them in a 1985 quake of 8.0 magniude. This has the potential to be a deadly earthquake and cause significant damage, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Paul Earle said. This area is capable of and has had larger earthquakes in the past.

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There will be aftershocks, Earle said. It is not unexpected to see a magnitude 6 at this point and a number of smaller ones. This quake happened when the Cocos plate, which is to the southwest of the area, slipped under the North American plate, Earle said.