United States

Epicenter of Magnitude 6.5 earthquake near coast of Michoacan, Mexico, Wednesday, April 11, 2012 (USGS image)

Three very strong earthquakes shook western Mexico between late Wednesday and early Thursday, local time.

There were no early reports of injury or significant damage.

The first temblor struck late Wednesday afternoon near Lazaro Cardenas, in the southwest coastal state of Michoacan. The quake had a magnitude of 6.5 and a focal depth of 20 km (about 12 miles), the USGS Earthquake Hazards website said.

Tall buildings swayed in Mexico City, which is about 240 miles from the epicenter, the AP said.

Meanwhile, Baja California and the Gulf of California were the sites of two very strong early-morning earthquakes Thursday.

Striking in quick succession shortly after midnight, local time, the two shocks measured magnitude 6.2 and 6.9, respectively, the USGS website said.

The stronger of the two had an epicenter right off a remote stretch of Baja California coast, between the islands of Angel de la Guarda and San Lorenzo. Its focal depth was a shallow 10.3 km, or 6.4 miles, the USGS said.

Epicenter of Magnitude 6.9 earthquake off southern Baja California, Mexico, Thursday, April 12, 2012 (USGS)

The were no immediate reports of injuries or substantial damage related to either of the Baja California earthquakes.

At the same time, the USGS website estimated that the magnitude 6.9 quake had the potential to cause moderate to heavy damage in the areas of strongest shaking.

All three of the quakes in Mexico ruptured fault systems along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," which bounds most of the vast Pacific Ocean basin.

Restlessness beneath the Gulf of California is somewhat related to that along California's well-known San Andreas Fault System.

Meanwhile, "thrust faulting" along Mexico's southern Pacific coast, the site of a subduction trench, provides a likely link between Wednesday's Michoacan quake and a magnitude 7.4 temblor that struck the state of Guerrero three weeks ago.

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