Mexico City, Mar 21 (IANS): Strong tremors were felt in Mexico City and prompted residents to flee in panic from swaying buildings Tuesday as a powerful magnitude-7.4 earthquake jolted Mexico.

The quake, which struck at 12.02 p.m., had a depth of 17.5 km, Xinhua cited the US Geological Survey (USGS) as saying.

The epicentre was located 193 km east of the famous tourist resort of Acapulco on the Pacific coast in Guerrero state, the USGS said.

Buildings in the Mexico City swayed amid strong tremors and residents ran out into the streets.

People said buildings in the populous residential area of Condesa in the capital shook for several minutes.

"This was terrifying. It was without doubt the strongest earthquake I have ever experienced here," a terrified resident told Xinhua.

The Mexican capital which is home to 20 million people.

It was not immediately known if the quake caused any severe damage or injuries.

Shortly after the tremor, ambulance sirens were heard in many parts of the city.

"There was earth and smoke coming from below the ground, even the tallest of the buildings in Reforma Avenue were swaying wildly from side to side and windows were crashing around us," said Maria Gonzalez, a worker.

"The whole ground started moving below me where I was walking, people were terrified. This felt as strong as in 1985," she said, referring to the magnitude-8.0 quake which killed over 10,000 people in Mexico in 1985 and left the capital in ruins.