People Trapped in Cable Cars After Mexico Earthquake Rocks Country

Videos of cable cars swaying in the air, with passengers trapped inside, have emerged after Mexico was hit by a powerful earthquake.

Mexico's National Seismological Service said the 7.1-magnitude quake struck around 6.8 miles from the resort of Acapulco, in Guerrero state, at about 1:47 a.m. on Wednesday.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists the quake's magnitude as 7.0 and occurring at a depth of 12 miles.

Major tremors were felt across the beach resort, causing electricity and telephone lines to go out for 1.6 million people in Guerrero, as well as users in the states of Oaxaca and Morelos and in the capital Mexico City.

Buildings were reported to have shaken in Mexico City—more than 200 miles from the quake's epicenter.

Videos posted online show people trapped in one of the recently installed cable cars in Iztapalapa, a borough of Mexico City, as the tremors hit.

One clip, posted on Facebook by local resident Diego Smalls, shows a cable car swaying in the wake of the quake.

"For anyone who wants to know what the bus cable looks like in a tremor," he wrote.

Another video posted on Twitter shows a number of people trapped inside a cable car as the quake started.

"After an hour and 10 minutes, they got us off at Quetzalcóatl station, and they no longer allowed us to advance to our destination," tweeted Gilberto Romero Glez.

At least one person died after being hit by a falling post in the town of Coyuca de Benitez, near Acapulco.

The mayor of Acapulco, Adela Román, said in a statement to the television news outlet Milenio that no other casualties had been reported.

"There are nervous breakdowns; people are worried because there have been aftershocks," she said, according to The Associated Press, adding that there were "many gas leaks in many places" as well as landslides.

Sergio Flores, an Acapulco resident, told the AP: "We heard a loud noise from the building, noise from the windows, things fell inside the house, the power went out.

"We heard leaking water, the water went out of the pool and you heard people screaming, very nervous people."

In Mexico City, Claudia Guarneros described how her home started to shake.

"My mother was in another room and I started to call her," she said. "The house started moving and in the last part of the earthquake the power went out and we couldn't see anything, we just saw some things falling."

There are no reports of major damage to buildings, according to the Mexican government.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in a recorded statement: "The epicenter was recorded in Guerrero, Acapulco. Fortunately there is no major damage in that state. Stones, fallen walls, the same in Morelos. No damage in Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico City.

"General Sandoval, Secretary of Defense, has made a review of all military zones and this is the report we have. Fortunately there is no serious damage.

"I also spoke with the head of government of Mexico City, with the governors of Oaxaca, Puebla, and it is the same report."