'It seems like a curse': Mexico hit by powerful quake on same day for third time

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck western Mexico on Monday, killing at least one person, damaging buildings, and knocking out power. Ironically, it was the anniversary of two devastating quakes the country has witnessed in the past. A department store roof collapsed on one person in the Pacific port of Manzanillo, the government said.

Several hospitals in the western state of Michoacan near the epicenter sustained damage, a sparsely populated part of Mexico. One person was injured by falling glass at one of the hospitals, the government said.

The relatively shallow quake struck felt at 1 pm (1800 GMT) near the western coast and close to the Michoacan border with the state of Colima, where Manzanillo is located, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

A tsunami warning for parts of Mexico's coast was also issued, with waves as high as one to three metres (3 to 9 feet)being predicted. However, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were no immediate reports of major damage in the capital.

Destructive quakes battered the country in 1985 and 2017. Thousands of people died in the September 19, 1985 quake, and over 350 were killed in the September 19, 2017 quake.

"It seems like a curse," Isa Montes, a 34-year-old graphic designer in the city's central Roma neighborhood, told Reuters of the quake's timing.

The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) said there was no scientific explanation for three major quakes on the same day and called it a pure coincidence.

But others could not quite believe it. Many Mexicans posted an array of memes online, showing their amazement.

"It's this date. There's something about the 19th," said Ernesto Lanzetta, a business owner in the Cuauhtemoc borough of the city. "The 19th is a day to be feared".

Images posted on social media showed buildings badly damaged.

The seismic alert had sounded nearly two minutes before the quake struck, giving residents time to evacuate their homes. But there were some who didn't think it was a real quake as the government had already sounded the alarm earlier in the day as a practice exercise commemorating the past earthquakes.

(With inputs from agencies)