Powerful Quake Rocks Guatemala, Mexico; Two People Reported Dead

Mexico City: A strong earthquake shook Guatemala and southern Mexico on Monday, damaging buildings, triggering landslides and sparking reports of at least two deaths, authorities said.

The magnitude 7.1 quake rattled the region and the town of San Marcos on Guatemala's border with Mexico, and a spokesman for local emergency fire services said two people had been reported dead.

"This quake was pretty strong. There are houses destroyed," said Luis Rivera, governor of the San Marcos region, which was also hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in late 2012 that killed 48 people.

Cracks opened up in buildings in San Marcos, and there were also landslides in the area, authorities said.

Raul Hernandez, a spokesman for fire services in Guatemala, said that in the region of San Marcos his unit had reports of 30 houses damaged and two people dead.

The quake was centered 22 miles (35 km) west-southwest of the city of Tapachula in the Mexican state of Chiapas at a depth of about 47 miles (75 km) the United States Geological Survey said. Authorities in Chiapas said there were no immediate reports of major damage. The quake was also felt in El Salvador.