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How Mexico Lived its Strongest Earthquake in a Century
On Thursday, September 7th, 2017, a few minutes before midnight, Mexico lived through its strongest earthquake in a century. This is what happened.
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The earthquake struck at 11:50 PM. It was a magnitude 8.2 on the Richter scale and it lasted an incredible 3 minutes and 49 seconds.
The southeastern provinces of Oaxaca and Chiapas were most damaged by the earthquake. These are lovely but poor provinces, with many small towns and villages in remote areas. Sadly, the devastation there was severe.
Just to clarify, I don’t live anywhere near the devastated area of Oaxaca and Chiapas. I live in the Mexico City area, and although the quake did hit us,it wasn’t intense enough to cause real damage here.
But the quake was strong enough to bring back terrifying memories of the deadly 1985 earthquake, so crowds of people emptied entire apartment buildings and walked out into the street in their pajamas until the Civil Protection Agency announced it was safe to go back in.
The next day, schools and public office buildings in 11 states closed so Civil Protection officials could check for any damages. We don’t play around with natural disasters in Mexico.
Despite the emergency, personal story is not exciting at all. I slept through the earthquake. Yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but I went to bed at 10:00 PM and I didn’t feel a thing. I woke up the next day and found out about the earthquake from the news.
So this is what happened while I was sleeping like a baby.
How Mexico Lived Through its Strongest Earthquake in a Century
The quake rattled office and apartment buildings in Mexico City.
— Ils Gallegos (@ils_gp) September 8, 2017
Midnight traffic was brought to a standstill.
Con la peda que traigo, ni lo senti #AlertaSismica#temblor#CDMXpic.twitter.com/xtYB3mhvEm
— Ches (@I_ches) September 8, 2017
The quake set off seismic alarms in Mexico City as the iconic Angel of Independence swayed back and forth.
@elnorte@SancadillaNorte así se tambaleaba el Angel hace unos momentos #RegiosEnCDMXpic.twitter.com/3idomndU7O
— Diego Cruz (@Dr_Diego_Cruz) September 8, 2017
These strange lights appeared in the night sky during the earthquake, like lightning without thunder. These are flashes of static electricity released into the atmosphere by the friction of rocks and minerals underground.
Weird, right?
#Chiapas el cielo durante el #Terremoto#CDMX#Temblor#Sismo#Chiapas#Tsunamipic.twitter.com/VWTFB28MsN
— Eliezer Brito (@EliezerBrito7) September 8, 2017
In the southeastern provinces of Oaxaca and Chiapas, the earthquake and the devastation were stronger.
#Earthquake 8.4 in #Mexico#Terremoto Alerta Peligro en #Chiapas , primeras imágenes #PrayForMexicopic.twitter.com/Tw6Wthle01
— Ruben Romero (@rubenromeroweb) September 8, 2017
In Chiapas, people barely had time to run out of buildings before they collapsed.
— #Abstencionario 120k (@EnkiVzla) September 8, 2017
The city of Juchitan, Oaxaca, was nearly destroyed by the earthquake, but people there are still standing strong.
#Video Citizen of #Juchitan carry a Mexican flag right in front of the destroyed City Hall pic.twitter.com/qjJBfTclnI#Temblor#PrayForMéxico
— #GastosPendejos (@GastosPendejos) September 8, 2017
Destruction in Juchitan, Oaxaca.
Although this earthquake didn’t damage Mexico City, the city of Juchitan was nearly destroyed and its population will need plenty of aid to get back on its feet.
The people of Juchitan simply don’t have enough resources to deal with this sort of catastrophe, so Mexican citizens are already lining up to contribute to earthquake relief. You can contribute too.
El drama que se vive en Juchitán tras terremoto que ha dejado por lo menos 25 muertos en Oaxaca https://t.co/WajfN7kwOKpic.twitter.com/JkNyTUxeze
— MX Político (@MXPolitico1) September 8, 2017
How to Help Mexico Earthquake Victims
The death toll in the provinces of Oaxaca and Chiapas rises every day as more victims are unearthed from the rubble. And those that escaped have lost their homes.
This is turning into a huge humanitarian crisis, and relief is badly needed.
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