BRICKS AND RUBBLE

Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete said there was some superficial damage to buildings in Oaxaca, and the state's governor said about 100,000 people had lost power.

In the town of Pinotepa Nacional near the quake's epicenter, a photo obtained from Oaxaca's civil protection agency showed a single-story building where a portion of the brick facade crumbled into the street.

Other images in the media appeared to show bricks and rubble fallen from buildings, and products tumbling off shelves in a supermarket.

National oil firm Pemex said its installations were in order, including its biggest refinery 240 miles (386 km) from the epicenter. A hotel operator in Puerto Escondido said his property had no damage.

Tremors were felt as far away as Guatemala to the south.

In Mexico City, tall buildings swayed for more than a minute as seismic alarms sounded, with older structures in the chic Condesa neighborhood knocking into each other, and some cracks appearing in plaster and paintwork.

The Popocatepetl volcano south of the capital sent a kilometer-high column of ash into the sky, said Mexico's disaster prevention agency.

Two young men standing by a building that collapsed in a Sept. 19 earthquake were still hugging minutes after the tremor. People crowded in the streets, one lady in her pajamas.

Trees, overhead cables and cars swayed, and a fire truck raced down the street.

Guadalupe Martinez, a 64-year-old retiree, said she was still shaking from shock. But the quake was a far cry from the tremors that struck Mexico in September, Martinez said.

"This time it was strong, but it did not jump up and down," she said.