On September 19th, 1985 at around 7:19 a.m.,
Mexico City had a powerful earthquake that caused a
Hotel Regis (after)
significant amount of
damage with a magnitude of 8.1. This was one of the strongest earthquakes to
ever hit the area. The Earthquake was centered off the pacific coast of
Michoacán, Mexico. Michoacán Is more than 200 miles away from the city of
Mexico and most of the damage was done in Mexico City. Mexico City is known for
being built on top of a lake bed by the Aztecs. Therefore you can imagine how
much damage an earthquake could cause to the city due to its soft sediments
that amplify seismic waves. After an earthquake in 1957, the government issued
the first of the building codes with respect to earthquake resistance. However
these regulations did not have in mind the power of the 1985 earthquake.
Apartment complexes (before)
The
quake was said to be felt all the way in Huston, Texas and Guatemala City, Guatemala.
That was over an area of 319,000 square miles. The earthquake killed more than
10,000 people and caused 30,000 of them to get injured. About 25,000 people
were left homeless due to the demolition of apartment building and houses.
Thousands of buildings were damaged and more than 400 buildings in the city
collapsed. To make things worse, on the evening of the next day an aftershock
shook the region with a magnitude of 7.5.
Apartment complexes (after)
After all seeing all the damage, everyone in the city
started to help getting people who were stuck, feeding people who were hungry
and they formed their own rescue teams. They decided to do it all on their own
because of the slow response of the Mexican government. The president at the
time was Miguel de la Madrid. He was viciously criticized for the Mexican
government’s slow and weak response to the natural disaster that occurred. The
president had rejected international aid offers and said that there wasn’t a
lot of damaged caused by the earthquake, which clearly was a lie. The disaster
also helped expose that due to government corruption, the enforcement of
building codes were not being applied. The total cost for the recovery
of the city
was between 3-4 million dollars. After this disaster in Mexico City the Civil
Protection Committee was created. The committee organized drills with rescue workers,
police officers, hospital staff and metro personnel. An early-alert earthquake
warning system has also been established in Mexico City, as well as other
safety measures, as a result of the devastating earthquake of 1985.
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