Major quake strikes Mexico on 'cursed' anniversary of temblors, at least one dead

MEXICO CITY, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck western Mexico on Monday on the anniversary of two devastating temblors, killing at least one person, damaging buildings, knocking out power and sending residents of Mexico City scrambling outside for safety.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a video address a person had died in the Pacific port of Manzanillo after a wall collapsed in a store. Authorities also reported damage to two hospitals in the western state of Michoacan near the epicenter, which was in a sparsely populated part of Mexico.

The magnitude 7.6 quake hit shortly after 1 p.m. (1800 GMT) near the western coast and close to the Michoacan border with the state of Colima - where Manzanillo is located, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The quake was relatively shallow, at only 15 km (9 miles) deep, which would have amplified its impact.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for parts of Mexico's coast, saying waves reaching 1 to 3 meters (3 to 9 feet) above the tide level were possible.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were no immediate reports of major damage in the capital after the tremors, which rumbled through Mexico on the same day as destructive quakes battered the country in 1985 and 2017.

"It seems like a curse," Isa Montes, a 34-year-old graphic designer in the city's central Roma neighborhood, said of the quake's timing as helicopters flew overhead, surveying the city.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there were no immediate reports of major damage in the capital after the tremors, which rumbled through Mexico on the same day as destructive quakes battered the country in 1985 and 2017.

"It seems like a curse," Isa Montes, a 34-year-old graphic designer in the city's central Roma neighborhood, said of the quake's timing as helicopters flew overhead, surveying the city

The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), one of the country's most prestigious seats of higher learning, said there was no scientific explanation for three major quakes on the same day and attributed it to pure coincidence.

But others could not quite believe it.

"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."

Thousands of people were killed in the Sept. 19, 1985 earthquake and more than 350 died in the Sept. 19, 2017 quake.