[4] The fall left a huge piece of concrete blocking the road that leads to the Zócalo. The southern part of the city rests on hardened basalt lava flows. This is an intertidal zone and the event caused widespread mortality in a number of species living in the area such as algae and shellfish. First Lady Nancy Reagan toured Mexico City with U.S. [20] Some sources say that more than 50,000 families lost their homes. Most of the seriously damaged buildings were built between 1957 and 1976, when the city was starting to build upwards, in the six-to-fifteen floor range. [46][47], Despite warnings and predictions, in 2005, an estimated 32 million people live in the high-risk lakebed area. It was also surrounded by a number of other buildings belonging to the hospital complex such as a blood bank, teaching facilities, offices as well as the original convent. On Line 3 only Juárez and Balderas were closed. Coastal and most inland damage was moderated by the fact that most of the west of Mexico sits on bedrock, which serves to transmit the shockwaves without amplifying them. [20], CUD and other popular movement representatives met the head of the Secretariat of Urban Development and Ecology (SEDUE) Guillermo Carrillo Arena on 27 September 1985. [29] "[29] Then the image disappeared. Critics argued that the lack of enforcement of such codes was indicative of corrupt practices in all levels of government. A small tsunami caused only mild damage to Lázaro Cárdenas and Zihuatanejo. This event made the garment industry a labor embarrassment. The main reason for this is the surface geology of the area, especially the downtown area. The number of people with potable water went from six million to 90,000. For the 2017 earthquake near Mexico City, see, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, "Brigada de Topos de Tlatelolco" (Mole Brigade of Tlatelolco), "Damage due to the 1985 Mexico earthquake and the ground conditions", American Association for the Advancement of Science, "SNN Mexican National Seismological Centre", "The Health Care Reform in Mexico: Before and After the 1985 Earthquakes", "El Terremoto de 1985 en el Hospital Juárez de la Ciudad de México", "Cumplen 20 años "niños" rescatados terremoto 1985 Ciudad de México", "¿Más de 40 mil muertos en el sismo de 1985? [4][15], In the port of Lázaro Cárdenas, near the epicenter, the 19 September event registered as IX on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale; in parts of Mexico City, it registered the same, even at a distance of about 400 km (249 mi) away. Some of the reason for this was that those with postponable care were discharged, but mostly because the public and private facilities unified de facto during the crisis. On September 19, 1985, at 7:17 A.M., a Richter magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred on the Pacific coast of Mexico. A pre-event quake of magnitude 5.2 occurred on 28 May 1985. However, the codes were not designed for seismic activity of the intensity experienced in 1985. Over 720,000 tons of debris was removed during the first six weeks after the event. The event caused serious damage to the Greater Mexico City area and the deaths of at least 5,000 people. The three largest and most effective organizations were based in Tlatelolco and Colonia Roma. [12] It is estimated the movement along the fault was about three metres (9.8 ft). People at the scene stated that there was simply no time to run and escape the building's fall. [5] President Miguel de la Madrid ordered a news blackout[12] and did not address the situation at all for 39 hours after the event. [18] The federal government's first public response was President de la Madrid's declaration of a period of mourning for three days starting from 20 September 1985. [11] However, this particular section of the subduction zone had not had an event for a much longer time. The western and northwestern parts of the city are outside the old lakeshores and are located on sands from eroding volcanic cones that surround the Valley of Mexico. Mexico City, Mexico. It had its own cabaret, gourmet restaurant and a small but luxurious cinema with wide reclining armchairs. Mexico City residents re-lived a nightmare after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake killed hundreds and caused widespread destruction on Tuesday, the same day that a huge tremor in 1985 killed thousands. The city was originally built on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, and Aztec rulers built dikes to prevent flooding[6] while Spanish colonial rulers later drained the lakes in a massive hydraulic project (known as the Desagüe) in response to major periodic flooding. When the buildings were built seemed to have an effect as well. Ordinary citizens organized brigades to help with rescue efforts and to provide food, clothing and emotional support to the homeless. In total, the city lost more than 4,000 public hospital beds in the earthquake, severely disrupting these institutions' ability to handle the crisis. Unofficial sources put that figure much higher. One of the more famous images of the event was the live broadcast of Hoy Mismo, a news program in the Televisa television network, when the earthquake struck. [25] About 150 bodies of workers had already been pulled from the wreckage by fellow employees using their bare hands. Ground shaking lasted more than five minutes in places along the coast and parts of Mexico City shook for three minutes,[4] with an average shaking time of 3–4 minutes. from the epicenter. based on experience gained from earthquakes in 1957 and 1979. Most of the beds that it lost were dedicated to tertiary, high-technology care. [23][35], Buildings A1, B2 and C3 of the Multifamiliar Juárez complex partially collapsed with a total of nine structures eventually being demolished.[23][35]. The buildings most damaged were from 6 to 15 stories in height. One of the worst natural disasters in the Americas occurred 23 years ago today, when at 7:19 am local time an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 struck in the subduction zone off the west coast of Mexico. Two reasons are the resonance in the lakebed sediments and the long duration of the shaking. In some cases the damage was caused by the top of a lower, adjacent building banging against the walls and the supporting columns of its neighbor. Things got worse through February 1986, mostly due to the ineffectiveness of SEDUE and PRHP. Such site amplification and liquefaction occurred, when the waves of the distant earthquake shook the bed of former Lake Texcoco under Mexico City. One interesting characteristic was that many buildings had their upper floors collapse, leaving the lower floors relatively undamaged. On Sept. 19, 1985, an earthquake struck Mexico City — and it was a big one, rating at 8.1 magnitude. These buildings tended to resonate most with the energetic frequency band of the lakebed motions. All that remains of the factory is a small empty lot with a bronze statue of a woman sewing. These babies were pulled out of the wreckage mostly unscathed but lost their mothers. Interruption of classes, either to the lack of facilities and/or the need to help with rescue efforts, affected over 1.5 million students. Most of the damage occurred in secondary and tertiary hospitals. More than 900 patients, physicians, nurses and paramedical workers died in the initial shock. [9] This resonance amplifies the effects of the shock waves coming from an earthquake far away. ↵ Daniel Hernandez, “The 1985 Mexico City Earthquake, Remembered,” Los Angeles Times, September 20, 2010. Photo Mehmet Celebi, USGS, A lake bed in a basin, however, is one of the worst grounds for constructing a building. The earthquake was located about 110 kilometers northeast of Rome. Despite the loss of 5,000 hospital beds, there was never a shortage of facilities for the injured. The epicenter is the point on the earth's surface directly above the point of focus of the earthquake. The deal generally worked; movements like CUD moderated their stances and agencies like SEDUE and PRHP made progress in rebuilding housing, regardless of political affiliation. The next seriously affected area was Venustiano Carranza where 83 buildings collapsed, 128 partially collapsed and 2,000 structures were seriously damaged. He actively integrated Tlateloloco citizen groups into a new program meant for that area, defusing the most volatile area of the city. Due to soil conditions in this area, ground motions were especially amplified at a frequency of about 0. The earthquake measured seven point eight on the richter scale its center was about forty miles off the coast on Mexico's Pacific side but people felt it in Houston. The 1985 Mexico City earthquake, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake that struck Mexico City on the early morning of 19 September 1985 at around 7:19 AM (CST), caused the deaths of at least 10,000 people and serious damage to the greater Mexico City Area. Until today, nobody really knows how many people perished as a result of the earthquake. [19], One of the most visible government institutions to fall in the event was the tower of Hospital Juárez, one of the oldest hospital institutions in Mexico. Most of the injured had contusion injuries and many suffered from dehydration, with the severity of the dehydration increasing with those rescued later. It was expanded to a similar area on the coast of Oaxaca. The old lakebed, with its high water content, is easily moved or compressed. [4] Prior to the event, estimates about ground movement on the lakebed were generally accepted and a number of buildings were built on these estimates. The number of jobs lost due to the event was estimated at 200,000. This included the 700 beds lost with the complete collapse of Juárez Hospital and the gynecology-obstetrics tower of the General Hospital of Mexico. Official figures for the number of fatalities vary between 9,500 and 35,000. In the days after the quake, military and police cordoned off ten buildings to keep people out, leading a number of them to sleep on the streets. [26] [20], After the government created the Programa de Renovación Habitacional Popular (PRHP) on 14 October to help deal with the crisis, friction between the government and community groups grew again, PRHP used PRI-membership as a requirement to be included into the census of earthquake victims. (hra004), Cooperative Institute for Deep Earth Research (CIDER), Northern California Earthquake Data Center (NCEDC), :  Destruction in the Eastern Aegean Sea, :  An Explosion in Beirut heard all over the Middle East, :  Quake in Turkey highlights the hazard in the East Bay. In 1325 the Aztecs, one of the high civilisations of Mesoamerica, founded their capital Tenochtitlan. The earthquake did produce a number of tsunamis but they were small, ranging between one and three metres (3 ft 3 in and 9 ft 10 in) in height. A statue in Mexico City to Plácido Domingo as a recognition to his contributions to 1985 Mexico City earthquake victims and his artistic works. [4] This lakebed has a natural "pitch" of one cycle every 2.5 seconds making everything built on the bed vibrate at the same frequency. One out of every four then-available beds were lost. He offered a commitment to build 48,000 housing units in one year if the groups would all sign a "Convenio de concertación democrática para la reconstrucción de vivienda" (Democratic agreement for the reconstruction of housing). (The earthquake of 19-Sep-1985). At around 7:19 a.m. on September 19, 1985, Mexico City, one of the world’s largest urban areas, was jolted by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake, one of … Most of the earthquake damage was to buildings. The region's infrastructure was severely affected. Eventually, the columns gave way. [43] An alarm is supposed to go off in Mexico City (similar to an air-raid siren) when an earthquake of 6.0 or higher is detected. It was destroyed along with approximately 1,200 other workshops. The lessons learned from the Mexico Earthquake through the site investigation, are summarized as follows. Most bodies were identified by personal effects, some by dental records and some were so mangled that they wound up being cremated without ever being identified, due to the lack of morgue facilities. [24], The Conalep SPP was a building located between the streets of Iturbide and Humboldt, in the Historic Center of Mexico City, which succumbed to the Richter-scale 8.1-degree earthquake on 19 September 1985. One interesting characteristic was that many buildings had their upper floors collapse, leaving the lower floors relatively undamaged. More protests followed on 26 October calling for, among other things, the firing of SEDUE head Carrillo Arena. [5] The Museo Mural Diego Rivera on the north side of the park houses a mural by Diego Rivera which was originally housed in the huge Hotel Del Prado across the street. ↵ Alan Riding, “A year after the quake, Mexico City Is on the mend,” The New York Times (New York City, NY), September 20, 1986. [18], Nonoalco Tlatelolco was located on Paseo de la Reforma Norte #668,[32] covering an area of about two km2 (0.77 sq mi). [19], Patients had to be moved from damaged hospitals, especially the National Medical Center. Eighty percent of the earthquake damage was confined to four of them: Venustiano Carranza, Cuauhtémoc, Benito Juárez and Gustavo A. About 6,000 buildings were flattened and quarter of a million people lost their homes. [40] At many levels of the government, who was helped and by how much was determined by one's standing vis-à-vis the PRI. The greatest destruction occurred in an area where buildings were built on an old lakebed. 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