A violent earthquake hits Mexico City on September 19, as in 1985 and 2017
Eva Deschamps / September 20, 2022
In Mexico, September 19 is definitely cursed: an earthquake of magnitude 7.4 hit the capital on Monday, the same date as two deadly earthquakes in the past
One person died in the west of the country, said President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. No major damage has so far been reported in the area of the epicenter near the Pacific (west) and Mexico City, which has more than 20 million inhabitants with its megalopolis. In the capital, the tremor was strongly felt for several seconds, noted AFP.
At 1:05 p.m. local time, Mexico City residents took to the streets again when the seismic alert sounded, for real this time, less than an hour after the annual earthquake drill, a simulated earthquake organized every September 19 by the authorities.
"What a scare. I thought: 'once again on the 19th, this is not possible,'" Laura Plaza, a retired teacher, told AFP. "We didn't think it was true! But it is. It's impressive that today, once again, the earth is shaking so strongly," said Karina Suarez, 37, in the center of the capital.
There are no consequences in Mexico City so far" but "we continue to collect information", said as a first assessment the mayor of the capital Claudia Sheinbaum.
The epicenter was located towards the Pacific, in the state of Michoacan (west), several hundred kilometers from the capital.
No major damage has been recorded for the moment in Michoacan, according to a correspondent of the AFP. "We are assessing the damage," said the local civil protection.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reported one death in the western state of Colima after a fence fell in a shopping mall, citing a Navy official. At each annual earthquake drill, residents are asked to evacuate their homes and workplaces at the first alarm, to "meeting points" marked in each neighborhood.
In September 2021, a 7.1 earthquake southeast of Acapulco in the state of Guerrero killed one person and damaged businesses and homes. On September 19, 2017, a magnitude 7.1 quake killed 369 people. On September 19, 1985, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake had devastated the center of Mexico City resulting in the death of more than 10,000 people, mostly in the capital.
Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire where the meeting of tectonic plates causes high seismic activity, Mexico lives under the threat of large-scale earthquakes.