Magnitude-7.2 earthquake slams south, central Mexico

A powerful magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook south and central Mexico Friday, causing people to flee swaying buildings and office towers in the country's capital, where residents were still jittery after a deadly quake five months ago.

Crowds gathered on Mexico City's central Reforma Avenue as well as on streets in Oaxaca state's capital, nearer the quake's epicenter, which was in a rural area close to Mexico's Pacific coast and the border with Guerrero state. There were no immediate reports of deaths.

People stand in the street as an earthquake shakes Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Bernandino Hernandez)

"It was awful," said Mercedes Rojas Huerta, 57, who was sitting on a bench outside her home in Mexico City's trendy Condesa district, too frightened to go back inside. "It started to shake; the cars were going here and there. What do I do?"

People walk down the center of a street in the Roma neighborhood after an earthquake shook Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

She said she was still scared thinking of the Sept. 19 earthquake that caused 228 deaths in the capital and 141 more in nearby states. Many buildings in Mexico City are still damaged from that quake.

People stand along Reforma Avenue after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The U.S. Geological Survey originally put the magnitude of Friday's quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicenter was 33 miles (53 kilometers) northeast of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles (24 kilometers).

A woman is helped outside, along Reforma Avenue after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Mexican Civil Protection chief Luis Felipe Puente tweeted that there were no immediate reports of damages from the quake. The Oaxaca state government said via Twitter that only material damages were reported near Pinotepa and Santiago Jamiltepec, but that shelters were opened for those fleeing damaged homes.

People stand outside, along Reforma Avenue after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The Mexico City Red Cross said via Twitter that the facade of a building collapsed in Mexico City's Condesa neighborhood, which was hit hard on Sept. 19. A video showed people walking through a dust cloud. But reporters at the scene later found no evidence of a collapse at the location given.

Patients rest in their hospital beds parked outside the General Hospital after they were evacuated, in Veracruz, Mexico, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

About an hour after the quake, a magnitude 5.8 aftershock also centered in Oaxaca caused tall buildings in Mexico City to briefly sway again.

USGS seismologist Paul Earle said Friday's earthquake appeared to be a separate temblor, rather than an aftershock of a Sept. 8 earthquake also centered in Oaxaca, which registered a magnitude of 8.2. The Sept. 19 earthquake struck closer to Mexico City.

An evacuated patient sits outside the General Hospital after an earthquake, in Veracruz, Mexico, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

The Sept. 8 quake killed nearly 100 people in Oaxaca and neighboring Chiapas, but was centered about 273 miles (440 kilometers) southwest of Friday's earthquake, Earle said.

An evacuated patient sits outside the General Hospital after an earthquake, in Veracruz, Mexico, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

In Mexico's capital, frightened residents flooded into the streets in Condesa, including one unidentified woman wrapped in just a towel, but there were no immediate signs of damage.

An evacuated patient sits outside the General Hospital after an earthquake, in Veracruz, Mexico, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

"I'm scared," said Rojas Huerta, recalling five months ago when buildings fell as she ran barefoot into the street. "The house is old."

Two diners sit outside a restaurant on Reforma Avenue after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

NEW YORK (AP) — Mexican fundraisers can now solicit donations on GoFundMe, the company announced Tuesday, as the crowdfunding giant expands into what it hopes is the first of more untapped Latin American markets to follow.

Mexico marks the 20th country serviced by GoFundMe. The for-profit platform is eyeing new international targets now that the unprecedented strain of crowdfunding campaign levels spawned by COVID-19 has eased to pre-pandemic figures, CEO Tim Cadogan told The Associated Press.

Mexico's status as one of the world's largest 15 economies and a close U.S. partner made it a logical fit, said Cadogan, as did on-the-ground interest evidenced by high search volume for GoFundMe and user attempts to establish in-country campaigns.

The company finds that its generally popular appeals for help with medical expenses and emergency aid are also common in Mexico — a country with relatively high out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures and a history of severe natural disasters.

Cadogan pointed to Category 5 Hurricane Otis' deadly touchdown last fall on the southern Pacific coast and the resort city of Acapulco. The GoFundMe community raised about $1.5 million to help recovery and rebuilding efforts, Cadogan said. But Mexicans themselves could not launch campaigns.

“If we had been available then, I think more people would have been able to avail themselves of the service," Cadogan said.

Mexico remains a country where about half the population lives in poverty, and where any unexpected expense — most often medical, but also related to events as terrifying as kidnapping or extortion — can prompt appeals for funds.

United States users had previously circumvented the geographic restrictions by opening GoFundMe campaigns on behalf of relatives in Mexico or other Latin American countries, according to Jeremy Snyder, a bioethicist who researches medical crowdfunding. Snyder expects that the expansion will ease the flow of money between users from the two countries, where many families have ties to both sides of the border.

“It’s just more evidence of the spread and normalization of crowdfunding,” Snyder said of Tuesday’s announcement.

Likeminded networks already exist in Mexico. Founded in 2016, Donadora first supported creative industries before refocusing on personal causes. Some 527,000 donors have given about $14 million, or 239 million Mexican pesos, to more than 6,800 campaigns, according to the company website. Donadora keeps 6.5% of donations before releasing the funds.

But none have the reach of GoFundMe. Cadogan said GoFundMe is well positioned because of its strong brand awareness, advantageous pricing structure and security protections. GoFundMe takes 2.9% of every transaction plus another five Mexican pesos. The company also guarantees full refunds of any donation amount for users who successfully file claims within one year of making a payment.

Junueth Mejia Martell, Hispanics in Philanthropy’s deputy director of digital philanthropy and innovation, welcomed the move. She said the nonprofit, which seeks to bridge gaps in philanthropic funding for Latino causes, has been building a culture of collective giving alongside other platforms. GoFundMe’s expansion provides yet another avenue for crowdfunding.

“This strengthens the muscle of generosity, of philanthropy, in Mexico,” she said.

Financial technology startup Stripe will serve as the online payment provider. Fundraisers must be at least 18 years old, share a Mexican postal address, have a Mexican bank account and submit their federal taxpayer registry number.

The rollout will inform the company's consideration of other Latin American countries where GoFundMe currently does not have a presence, Cadogan said.

“We would love to serve more markets,” Cadogan told AP. "But we want to understand them carefully and really see how, in this case, our first Latin American market plays out.”

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GoFundMe Chief Executive Officer Tim Cadogan poses for a photo in Altadena, Calif. on Friday, April 19, 2024. Mexican fundraisers can now solicit donations on GoFundMe, the company announced Tuesday, under an expansion that the crowdfunding giant hopes is the first of additional entrances into untapped Latin American markets. Mexico marks the 20th country serviced by GoFundMe. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)