Others were reported trapped in elevators, retaining walls had collapsed in some places, and electricity was out in several parts of the state, said Alfredo Escobedo, director of emergency services in Baja California state, Mexico.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), originally measured the quake, which struck at 3:40 p.m. Pacific time, as 6.9 but later raised it to 7.2. It also revised the depth of the quake to 6.2 miles from 20 miles.

A series of aftershocks rocked the area around the epicenter, 30 miles to the southeast of Mexicali and close to the town of Guadalupe Victoria.

People in Los Angeles, some 200 miles northwest of the epicenter, felt buildings swaying.