ACAPULCO, Mexico — Powerful Hurricane Erick made landfall in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca early Thursday as a major hurricane before moving inland and weakening to a tropical storm as it dumped heavy rain, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

The hurricane’s center was located about 35 miles north-northeast of Acapulco Thursday afternoon. Its maximum sustained winds were clocked at 50 mph. It was moving northwest at 12 mph, the hurricane center said.

The storm was downgraded slightly before making landfall, from a powerful Category 4 to a Category 3.

The storm threaded the needle between the resorts of Acapulco and Puerto Escondido, tearing into a sparsely populated stretch of coastline near the border of Oaxaca and Guerrero states. Agricultural fields blanket the low-lying coastal area between small fishing villages.

Late Wednesday, Erick’s projected path had crept south, closer to the resort city of Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca state with Acapulco up the coast to the northwest.

No injuries reported

President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday “the people have reacted very well so far.”

National Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velázquez said Thursday that at the moment there were no reports of injuries. Water entered a public hospital in the Oaxaca resort of Huatulco, and there were fallen trees, cuts to power and landslides blocking highways.