Report: Strong quake off Guatemala is felt in Mexico City Eduardo Verdugo / AP People who work in office buildings along El Paseo de la Reforma stand outside Wednesday after evacuating their offices due to a Gautemala-centered earthquake felt in Mexico City. A strong earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Guatemala on Wednesday, shaking buildings in Guatemala City, San Salvador and as far away as Mexico City, witnesses told Reuters. A Guatemala fire chief told Reuters that eight people buried under rubble were killed. Landslides blocked roads in some areas, authorities told Reuters, and about 40 houses were severely damaged. There was no immediate confirmation of the death and damage reports. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude-7.5 quake struck 28 miles southwest of Champerico, Guatemala, near the border with Mexico. The epicenter was 25 miles below the surface. CONRED, the government office for reduction of disasters in Guatemala, told NBC News an aerial evaluation of affected neighborhoods was being carried out amid reports of walls collapsing in homes and the loss of power and telephone services. The manager of the Grand Tikal Futura Hotel in the capital, Guatemala City, told NBC News that she felt a "strong earthquake" but that the building had sustained no damage and guests were returning to their rooms. A Reuters witness in Guatemala City said people were evacuating homes in parts of the capital, and firefighters and rescue workers were on alert. Office workers were also evacuating buildings in Mexico City and in the capital of the Mexican state of Chiapas, across the border from Guatemala. "It was really big, I felt quite nauseous," secretary Vanessa Castillo, 32, who was evacuated from her 10th-floor office in Guatemala City, told Reuters. Building janitor Jorge Gamboa said, "I was in the bathroom. When I came out the office was empty and I thought, 'what's happening? They didn't even say goodbye."' The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was a possibility of a local tsunami, within 100 or 200 miles of the epicenter, but they were not issuing an immediate warning for the broader region. This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates. Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitterand Facebook