Mexican president’s speech interrupted by emergency sirens as 6.3-magnitude earthquake strikes country

The president was holding her first 2026 tourism press conference at the National Palace when the earthquake struck, and sirens were audible over the live broadcast.

A livestream of her remarks captured the rumblings as Sheinbaum calmly motioned for everyone in the room to evacuate.

The press conference resumed minutes later.

Sheinbaum said she spoke with Guerrero’s governor and confirmed that no serious damage occurred there or in Mexico City.

Residents of Guerrero and surrounding areas reported feeling the tremor, as seen in videos shared on X.

Ceiling panels fell from Parking Lot A at Hospital la Raza in Mexico City, according to a local news outlet.

Mexico City resident Karen Gomez told AFP that the early-morning quake awakened her.

“I woke up in terror. My cellphone alert said it was a powerful earthquake.” Another woman, 57-year-old Norma Ortega, who lives on the 10th floor of an apartment block said: ‘I got a terrible fright.”

The earthquake’s epicenter was 9 miles from San Marcos, in southern Guerrero, about 143 miles from Mexico City, prompting the hospital and residents to evacuate.

Mexico City, built on soft lakebed soil, is especially vulnerable to earthquakes from Guerrero, including the 8.1-magnitude quake on September 19, 1985, that killed over 10,000, injured 30,000, and left up to 250,000 homeless, according to History.com.