2 people killed in a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in Mexico last night

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Mexico was hit by an earthquake last night which has claimed the lives of two people.

The 8.1-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of southern Mexico.

The quake was so strong that it reportedly caused buildings to sway as panicked residents fled. 

The earthquake has caused a tsunami warning to be placed in effect. 

'Off the west coast of Mexico is what's called the subduction zone, the Pacific Plate is moving under the Mexican peninsula,' Lucy Jones, a seismologist in California who works with the US Geological Survey told Breaking News.

'It's a very flat fault, so it's a place that has big earthquakes relatively often because of that.'

'There's likely to be a small tsunami going to the south-west.'

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