Tonight there was a 6.0 magnitude earthquake near Mexico City - where did I find out about it first? Where else, Twitter.

Before CNN, Google News, the USGS - a bunch of Twitterers broke the story first (as many were in Mexico City as it happened, though I got the news as a 2nd-hand Tweet from Robert Scoble).

This just reminds me how powerful a real-time tool like Twitter can be. Last month a bunch of Tweets broke the news to people about an earthquake in San Fran; tonight, a pretty large one near Mexico City (actually just outside Acapulco).

Just imagine if God-forbid someone was trapped somewhere after a disaster and 911 was flooded with calls - perhaps a quick text to Twitter could alert hundreds if not thousands of people within minutes and possibly save their life.

Okay, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself there, but for breaking news, Twitter is proving to be a force.

Scobleizer has a great run-down of the whole thing as it played out, and of just how slow traditional media - even on the web - is when compared to something like Twitter. Behold the power of real-time massive interaction.