Mexico earthquake: Powerful 7.1 magnitude quake leaves at least 119 dead

At least 119 people have been killed after a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit central Mexico.

The quake's epicenter was near the town of Raboso in the state of Puebla and it struck shortly after 1pm local time on Tuesday.

The tremor shook and damaged buildings 76 miles away in the capital, Mexico City and caused widespread panic less than two weeks after another quake left 90 dead in the south of the country.

It came on the anniversary of a quake that did major damage to the capital in 1985.

Dramatic video showed one mid-rise building collapsing into a cloud of dust amid cries from onlookers.

It was not clear whether anyone was inside but Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said people were trapped in some buildings.

Television images showed a multi-story building in the capital with a middle floor collapsed as sirens blared and first responders rushed to the scene. Other video showed the side of a government building shearing off and falling into the street as bystanders screamed.

Governor Alfredo del Mazo told the Televisa news network that at least two people died in the State of Mexico, which surrounds the capital: a quarry worker who was killed when the quake unleashed a rockslide and another person who was hit by a falling lamppost.

At least five deaths are believed to have occurred in the state of Puebla.

US President Donald Trump said on Twitter: "God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you."

Thousands of people fled office buildings into the streets of the capital city, while those that remained inside dived for cover under their desks as pictures fell from walls and objects were shaken from surfaces.

Alarms blared and traffic came to a standstill as masses of workers blocked the streets. Clouds of dust rose from fallen pieces of buildings.

Electricity and phone lines were down in parts of the capital.

"We got out really fast, leaving everything as it was and just left," said Rosaura Suarez, as she stood with a crowd on the street.

People in buildings across the city had carried out preparation drills hours earlier as it was the anniversary of the deadly 1985 quake.

In Mexico City's Roma neighbourhood, small piles of bricks from fallen buildings littered the streets.

Two men calmed a woman, blood trickling form a small wound on her knee, seated on a stool in the street, telling her to breathe deeply.

At a nearby market, a worker in a hard hat walked around the outside of the building, warning people not to smoke as a smell of cooking gas filled the air.

Market stall vendor Edith Lopez, 25, had been in a taxi a few blocks away when the quake struck. She said she saw glass bursting out of the windows of some buildings.

A large part of the city is built on a former lakebed and the soil is known to amplify the effects of earthquakes even hundreds of miles away.

Earlier this month, a powerful 8.1 magnitude earthquake in Mexico on September 9 left at least 90 people dead.