Mexico City (AFP) - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 hit Mexico early Thursday morning, causing at least two deaths, damage to buildings, and landslides.

The earthquake occurred at 1:19 a.m. near the epicenter of a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck three days ago in the western state of Michoacán, causing two deaths.

The US Geological Survey said the Thursday earthquake was centered 31 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Aguililla in Michoacán at a depth of 15 miles (24.1 kilometers).

The government of Michoacán said the earthquake was felt throughout the state. It reported damage to a building in the city of Uruapan and some landslides on highways.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Twitter that it was an aftershock of Monday's earthquake and was also felt in the states of Colima, Jalisco, and Guerrero.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Twitter that two people died, one fell down the stairs of her house and a man suffered a heart attack. Residents gathered in the streets amid the sound of earthquake alarms.

The earthquake shook an already tense country. Monday's strongest earthquake was the third major earthquake to strike on September 19 - in 1985, 2017, and now 2022. The earthquakes of September 19, 2017, and 2022 came shortly after the annual earthquake drills conducted every September 19 to commemorate the devastating 1985 storm that claimed about 9,500 lives. Edited by: Yusra Bamtraf