7.5-MAGNITUDE QUAKE HITS MEXICO; 12 KILLED.

Byline: Richard Chacon The Boston Globe

A strong earthquake rivaling ones that recently devastated areas of Taiwan and Turkey rocked southern Mexico Thursday, killing at least 12 people, toppling church towers and shaking buildings for hundreds of miles.

Initial reports, however, gave few casualties and little damage from the quake, which struck at 11:30 a.m. local time.

It registered a magnitude 7.5 and was centered 275 miles southeast of Mexico City near the Pacific coast of Oaxaca state, said the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo.

At least five people died in Oaxaca, including two women whose house collapsed on them, Gov. Jose Murat told the Televisa television network.

``There is some panic here, but fortunately there doesn't appear to be any major problems or damage,'' Murat said two hours after the quake hit.

Two other victims were killed when they tried to leave their homes and were hit by falling pieces of cement, Murat added. Television images showed several partially collapsed buildings in Oaxaca City and downed utility poles. Another person was killed in the popular Pacific resort of Puerto Escondido.

Oaxaca is a largely rural area and one of the country's poorest states, yet it is a popular tourist destination known for its beaches and resort hotels in Huatulco and Puerto Escondido.

The quake rippled through most of southern and central Mexico and reportedly reached as far north as Jalisco state. Emergency officials said they had not yet surveyed all the affected rural areas.

The temblor was felt strongly in Mexico City, one of the world's largest and densely populated metropolitan areas with nearly 20 million residents.

Scores of office workers fled their buildings and gathered along avenues. Schools were immediately evacuated but classes resumed in the afternoon. Many buildings in the central part of the city suffered shattered windows, and electricity and telephone service were temporarily interrupted.

The concrete high-rise that houses the Mexico City prosecutor's office was cleared out and shut down because of damage.

``It's safer outside than in,'' said Jaime Calderon, 37, who stood outside his convenience store in the southern neighborhood of Coyoacan, an area of colonial-era buildings.

One quake-related death was reported in the capital, when a 63-year-old man suffered a fatal heart attack caused by the shock of the quake. In Veracruz state, a 60-year-old woman died of head injuries after she fell while running out of her house.

President Ernesto Zedillo was on a day trip to the central state of Queretaro when the quake hit.

``I'm especially worried about Oaxaca,'' the president told reporters before cutting short his visit to return to Mexico City.

The earthquake marked the second time in less than four months that the region was rattled by a strong temblor. A 6.7-magnitude quake, also centered in Oaxaca, killed 15 people and caused minor damage, most of it in the city of Puebla.

Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention, one of the country's main earthquake-monitoring agencies, warned of aftershocks. A minor one was registered a 2 p.m. local time in the same area of Oaxaca.

The U.S. Geological Survey also issued warnings for tsunamis - large ocean waves caused by earthquakes - for the Pacific coasts of Mexico and Central America, as well as for Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

With every earthquake that rattles this country, memories and fears are revived of the deadly temblor that struck on Sept. 19, 1985, which registered 8.1 and killed at least 9,500 people. Many residents cried again Thursday, expressing a mixture of fear from the latest quake and pain from the past.

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photo, map

Photo: (color) Bricks and debris from collapsed buildings cover parked cars in Mexico City after Thursday's 7.5 earthquake.

Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press

Map: Mexico earthquake