The strongest earthquake in a century hit southern Mexico and Guatemala on Thursday night, killing at least 15 people.

One-metre-high tsunamis were reported after the quake, which was centred on the Pacific seabed off the coast of Chiapas state on the Guatemalan border, struck at 11.49pm local time.

Hundreds of buildings collapsed or were damaged, power was cut at least briefly to more than 1.8 million people and the authorities closed schools yesterday in at least 11 states to check them for safety.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said the quake had a magnitude of 8.2, stronger than that of a 1985 disaster that devastated large parts of Mexico City and killed thousands of people.

Thursday’s quake caused buildings to sway violently in the capital, more than 650 miles away.

National civil defence chief Luis Felipe Puente said 10 people had died in Oaxaca state, three in Chiapas and two in Tabasco.

Chiapas Governor Manuel Velasco said three people had been killed in San Cristobal, including two women who died when a house and a wall collapsed

"There is damage to hospitals that have lost energy," he said. "Homes, schools and hospitals have been damaged."

In neighbouring Guatemala, President Jimmy Morales spoke on national television to call for calm while emergency crews checked for damage.

"We have reports of some damage and the death of one person, even though we still don't have details," Mr Morales said.

He said the reported death had occurred in San Marcos state near the border with Mexico.