Reporting from Mexico City and Mexicali, Mexico - A magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocked Mexico's Baja California peninsula Sunday, jolting millions of people from Los Angeles and San Diego to Phoenix and scattering destruction along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Emergency services in both the U.S. and Mexico scrambled to assess the extent of casualties and damage, including fallen buildings, buckled roads, cracked water canals, fires and telephone and electrical outages. It appeared that most of the damage was in the twin border cities of Calexico, Calif., and Mexicali, Mexico, where at least two people were reported killed and several injured.
A new four-story parking garage at Mexicali's state government headquarters partly collapsed, along with part of the city's courthouse, residents said. Patients were evacuated from the main hospital for fear of structural damage.
Miguel Coronado, 48, who was in Mexicali with half a dozen relatives visiting family for Easter, said the quake "shook so strong that some people fell down. Some people got hysterical, and others started praying."
"It's a disaster over there," said Nayeli Ramirez, 17, after crossing into Calexico. "Buildings are tipped up. Cars are smashed. It's horrible. Everyone is running."
The U.S. Geological Survey measured the magnitude of the quake at 7.2 -- equal to the force that devastated the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince in January. It hit about 3:40 p.m. local time, lasted about 35 seconds and was followed 16 minutes later by a magnitude 3.9 shaker near Borrego Springs, Calif., and, separately, a magnitude 4.1 temblor six miles southwest of Malibu in the Pacific Ocean.
It was the third major quake in the Western Hemisphere in the last three months: In addition to the Haiti disaster, in which more than 200,000 people were killed, central and southern Chile were hit by one of the most powerful seismic events in history when an 8.8 quake struck on Feb. 27, killing about 700 people.
