Mexico earthquake of 1985

On September 19, 1985 an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.1 struck Mexico City, Mexico at 7:18 a.m. This was known to be one of the most violent earthquakes in the area. With Mexico City sitting on top a plateau of sand and dirt, this violent earthquake did significant damage to the city. The severe damaged left almost 10,000 people dead, nearly 30,000 people injured and more than 100,000 homeless. The Mexico City earthquake was said to be felt by almost 20 million people. The seriously affected areas caused nearly 4 billion U.S dollars worth of damage and left thousands of people fending for themselves. Hundreds of buildings had collapsed and thousands were seriously damaged by the shock. Hotels crumbled to the ground and hundreds of students were trapped by the falling of the National College of Professional Education building. Gas lines were easily broken, causing fires and explosions in many cities. (September 19, 1985: earthquake,” 1985)

Many natural disasters occurred after the quake as a result. Landslides, rockslides, sand blows and even a tsunami were generated. Rockslides were reported along highways, while sandblows and cracks in the road were seen in an area called Lazaro Cardenas. Also in the same area a tsunami was generated which caused extensive damage. Waves as high as 3 meters were recorded at Zihuatenejo and the waves even made it as far as Hawaii. Mexico City faced a loss of electricity halting public transportation and putting traffic lights out. Communication became an issue because the telephone system was also down. At the peak of the earthquake, Mexican president, Miguel de la Madrid refused to call a full national emergency plan and rejected international help. He quickly reversed his plans and began to accept international relief supplies from countries willing to help. Local residents helped with relief efforts and began evacuating friends and families from fallen buildings. Since several of the city’s major hospitals were severely damaged, the thousands of people that were in need of immediate medical care were halted leaving many deathly injured or sick. (U.S department of, 2010)

Weeks after the earthquake had struck the National Reconstruction Commission (NRC) supervised the reconstruction by some governmental programs. The cost of city reconstruction was extremely high because of the magnitude of the disaster. With this 8.0 magnitude earthquake occurring in an extremely concentrated high population, the amount of damage that was done was unlike any other event Mexico had ever witnessed. Unfortunately, not all damaged buildings received money to use towards reconstruction. Five programs were formed according to social pressures that were affected by the earthquake; Emergency housing program phase 1, popular residence renovation program, Democratic reconstruction of the nonoalco-Tlatelalco residential unit program, Emergency housing program phase 2, and the nongovernmental housing program. These five groups were formed as a way to help the communities recover at a faster rate. (Rodriguez)

U.S Department of Interior, U.S Geological Survey. (2010). Historic earthquakes Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Retrieved from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1985_09_19.php

(U.S Department of, 2010)

September 19,1985: earthquake shakes mexico city. (1985, September 19). History Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/earthquake-shakes-mexico-city

("September 19,1985: earthquake," 1985)

Rodriguez, F. (n.d.). Mexico city reconstruction after the 1985 earthquake. Unpublished manuscript, Pacific Disaster Center, University of Hawaii, Kiehi, Hawaii. Retrieved from http://emi.pdc.org/soundpractices/Mexico_City/SP2_Mx_1985_Reconstruction_Process.pdf

(Rodriguez)