Two people died when a powerful earthquake rocked Mexico earlier this week, officials said, acknowledging the first fatalities from the disaster.

Angel Aguirre, governor of the southern Guerrero state, told reporters late Thursday that one man died of cardiac arrest linked to Tuesday's 7.4-magnitude earthquake and another perished when a wall collapsed on him.

Another 13 people were wounded in the earthquake, officials said.

The earthquake – with its epicentre south of the Pacific resort of Acapulco – was the most powerful to hit the country since one in 1985, which destroyed entire neighborhoods of the capital and killed thousands.

More than 40 aftershocks, some of up to 5.0 magnitude, shook the Mexican capital and southern areas in the aftermath of Tuesday's earthquake, according to the National Seismological Service.