MEXICALI: Emergency services in both the US and Mexico scrambled to deal with an earthquake that rocked Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Sunday. Buildings fell, roads buckled, water canals cracked, fires sparked and telephone and electrical service were outed.

It appeared most of the damage was in the twin border cities of Calexico in California, and Mexicali in Mexico, where at least one person was reported killed by falling debris and several were injured.

The 7.2-magnitude quake shook buildings as far north as Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas in the US south-west. Chandeliers swayed, homes shook and the earth seemed to slide under the feet of people emerging from Easter church services for well over a minute.

The quake struck just after 3.30pm. It was centred 25 kilometres south-west of Guadalupe Victoria in Baja California, Mexico, and about 177 kilometres south-east of Tijuana, according to the US Geological Survey.

''It's really ugly here,'' Olga Jimenez, 29, a water company worker in Mexicali, said as her house continued to shake around her and ambulance and police sirens wailed in the background. ''We felt a really big shake. The walls on houses fell down and people were running in the streets screaming.''

A new four-storey parking garage at Mexicali's state government headquarters partly collapsed, as well as part of the courthouse. Patients were evacuated from the main hospital for fear of structural damage.

''It's a disaster over there,'' said Nayeli Ramirez, 17, who crossed the border into Calexico after the quake. ''Buildings are tipped up. Cars are smashed. It's horrible. Everyone is running.''

In Calexico's central older district, windows were broken and goods sent tumbling from store shelves. Glass and plaster were everywhere. By evening, some merchants were already sweeping up as inspectors red-tagged buildings to keep people out until damage surveys could be done.

''Calexico has suffered a devastating hit,'' said the city manager, Victor Carrillo. ''Our downtown is shut down, and people everywhere are afraid.''

The quake's force was equal to that which devastated the Haitian capital of Port au Prince in January. It lasted about 35 seconds and was followed 16 minutes later by a second 3.9-scale quake near Borrego Springs, California, and, separately, a 4.1 quake in the Pacific Ocean, 10 kilometres south-west of Malibu in California.

At Mexicali's main hospital, nine babies were born after the quake.

''It shook so hard,'' Kassandra Ornelas, 16, said, ''we thought the earth was going to open up.''

Agencies