Earthquake shakes buildings in Mexico City

9/19/2022

RawNews1st – An earthquake drill will be held in Mexico City and eight states this Monday, September 19, the fifth anniversary of a powerful 7.1 magnitude temblor that shook central Mexico and the 37th anniversary of an 8.1 magnitude quake that devastated the capital.

The simulacro nacional, or national drill, will commence at 12:19 p.m. Central Time in Mexico City, México state, Michoacán, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Morelos, Oaxaca and Chiapas. All nine entities are particularly prone to seismic activity.

The capital’s earthquake alarm will ring out from almost 14,000 loudspeakers, alerting residents to the imminent arrival of – in this case hypothetical – seismic waves. Alarms will also sound in areas of other states where earthquake alert systems are in place.

Organized by Civil Protection authorities, the drill will assume an 8.1 magnitude quake with an epicenter off the coast of Michoacán.

The National Seismological Service (SSN) said in a statement that the characteristics of the mock quake – its magnitude and epicenter – were derived from the 1985 temblor, which claimed thousands of lives in Mexico City.

Seismic events of lower intensity occur frequently in Mexico, especially in southern states with a Pacific coast, such as Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero.

On Monday morning, for example, there was a 4.4 magnitude quake with an epicenter 50 kilometers south of Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas; a 3.8 magnitude quake in Oaxaca, with an epicenter 55 kilometers of Salina Cruz; and numerous other smaller shocks.

Drills remind us that Mexico is a seismically active country and allow us to practice Civil Protection recommendations with regard to what to do before, during and after an earthquake,” the SSN said.