Earthquake Rocks Mexican Peninsula of Baja California

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the Mexican peninsula of Baja California on Sunday, killing two people and causing tremors in the state of Nevada and the city of Los Angeles, reports BBC News.

Some people are still trapped in their homes in the city of Mexicali, where a state of emergency has been declared.

The quake struck at 1540 (2240 GMT), 26 km (16 miles) southwest of Guadalupe Victoria in Baja California, according to the US Geological Survey.

It was the worst quake to hit the region for many years, officials said.

Mexican civil protection officials said a man had died when his home collapsed outside Mexicali, near the earthquake's epicentre.

Another man was run over by a car in Mexicali after he ran out of his house during the quake, officials said.

Geological Survey Seismologist Lucy Jones estimated over 20 million people would have felt tremors from the largest quake to affect the area since 1992, and predicted that aftershocks would be felt over a wide area for days to come.