# ¡Temblor! in the DF



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Everyone ok? It was around midnight. I was lying in my bed reading, when the bed began to really shake (it almost jumped!), in fact, the whole building was shaking. I grabbed my housecoat and somehow made it down 3 flights of a narrow winding staircase to the street. By the time I got there the shaking had stopped, but I and the neighbors who had gathered there were still really shook up. No damage to anything or anyone here in the colonia Cuauhtémoc as far as I know - hope all is well where you are.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> Everyone ok? It was around midnight. I was lying in my bed reading, when the bed began to really shake (it almost jumped!), in fact, the whole building was shaking. I grabbed my housecoat and somehow made it down 3 flights of a narrow winding staircase to the street. By the time I got there the shaking had stopped, but I and the neighbors who had gathered there were still really shook up. No damage to anything or anyone here in the colonia Cuauhtémoc as far as I know - hope all is well where you are.


Preliminary Earthquake Report
Magnitude	5.8
Date-Time	
16 Jun 2013 05:19:01 UTC
15 Jun 2013 22:19:02 near epicenter
15 Jun 2013 23:19:01 standard time in your timezone
Location	18.328N 99.051W
Depth	53 km
Distances	
22 km (13 mi) W of Jolalpan, Mexico
31 km (19 mi) E of Huitzuco de los Figueroa, Mexico
34 km (21 mi) SSE of Jojutla de Juarez, Mexico
35 km (21 mi) SSE of Tlaquiltenango, Mexico
122 km (75 mi) S of Mexico City, Mexico

USGS Event page


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

I spent most of my life studying earthquakes for a living, so I am probably more sensitized to this than others…

The instinct to get out of a building like Isla did is normal, but it is really not a good idea. There can be glass, brick or other debris falling from the sides of buildings. If you are outdoors, when an earthquake starts you should move away from buildings, streetlights, and utility wires. If you are indoors, you should get under something sturdy like a table.

More detailed advice


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> Everyone ok? It was around midnight. I was lying in my bed reading, when the bed began to really shake (it almost jumped!), in fact, the whole building was shaking. I grabbed my housecoat and somehow made it down 3 flights of a narrow winding staircase to the street. By the time I got there the shaking had stopped, but I and the neighbors who had gathered there were still really shook up. No damage to anything or anyone here in the colonia Cuauhtémoc as far as I know - hope all is well where you are.


I hope You are all right Isla


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

GARYJ65 said:


> I hope You are all right Isla


Thanks for your concern, Gary. I'm fine. For some reason (no doubt TG would understand why) this one shook up my building more than others I've experienced in the past. But this time no damage occurred, except to my nerves.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> Thanks for your concern, Gary. I'm fine. For some reason (no doubt TG would understand why) this one shook up my building more than others I've experienced in the past. But this time no damage occurred, except to my nerves.


I understand prefectly, I was living in Mexico CIty in 1985 !


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

GARYJ65 said:


> I understand prefectly, I was living in Mexico CIty in 1985 !


I was in Mexico City on vacation in the summer of 1985, but went back to the States just a couple of weeks before the earthquake devastated the city. No one I knew was killed or hurt, but getting news about what was going on in the pre-internet era was difficult and frustrating. One friend living here got news that he was safe by sending a message through Lufthansa (his family was originally from Germany) to his mother in New York. When I returned a couple of years later on another vacation, I was shocked at the evidence of the damage done to the urban infrastructure, especially in the downtown area around the Alameda.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> Thanks for your concern, Gary. I'm fine. For some reason (no doubt TG would understand why) this one shook up my building more than others I've experienced in the past. But this time no damage occurred, except to my nerves.


I am not sure why it felt stronger. It was about 50 km closer than the earthquake in November 2012. The amount of shaking is a combination of a lot of different things: the size and type of the earthquake, the distance, the type of ground you are located on.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> I was in Mexico City on vacation in the summer of 1985, but went back to the States just a couple of weeks before the earthquake devastated the city. No one I knew was killed or hurt, but getting news about what was going on in the pre-internet era was difficult and frustrating. One friend living here got news that he was safe by sending a message through Lufthansa (his family was originally from Germany) to his mother in New York. When I returned a couple of years later on another vacation, I was shocked at the evidence of the damage done to the urban infrastructure, especially in the downtown area around the Alameda.


You were very lucky then, to not be here. It was really really bad. And it felt so strong, both of them


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

GARYJ65 said:


> You were very lucky then, to not be here. It was really really bad. And it felt so strong, both of them


I know that. Anyone I know in Mexico who was living in the DF at the time the quake (or quakes, were there two?) struck seems much more likely than me to react strongly to even a slight tremor.


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## PanamaJack (Apr 1, 2013)

I am very pleased everyone is just a tad shaken but nothing more. I was watching a late night movie with my better half when we were rudely interupted by the temblor. It does bring back memories of 1985!!! But one most try not to let those thoughts fester in your mind. My dad was in Guatemala in 1976 when the earthquake hit that killed 25,000. He was with the embassy at the time and said he never saw so much destruction in his life. We all must take a collective sigh of relief that we were only shaken more than we like, but are here 12 hours later to talk about it.

Strange, one hit in Nicaragua as well earlier this morning? Tundra Green is that along that line from Alaska to Chile or the circle of fire?


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

PanamaJack said:


> I am very pleased everyone is just a tad shaken but nothing more. I was watching a late night movie with my better half when we were rudely interupted by the temblor. It does bring back memories of 1985!!! But one most try not to let those thoughts fester in your mind. My dad was in Guatemala in 1976 when the earthquake hit that killed 25,000. He was with the embassy at the time and said he never saw so much destruction in his life. We all must take a collective sigh of relief that we were only shaken more than we like, but are here 12 hours later to talk about it.
> 
> Strange, one hit in Nicaragua as well earlier this morning? Tundra Green is that along that line from Alaska to Chile or the circle of fire?


One thing to keep in mind; once an earthquake strikes, it's not about if it will happen or not again, it's about when it will be striking again
All of us, but mostly people that live in high sismic places should be much more careful


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Hmmm. I have a degree in Geology; now pretty obsolete, but I still do not know how to be careful regarding earthquakes.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

RVGRINGO said:


> Hmmm. I have a degree in Geology; now pretty obsolete, but I still do not know how to be careful regarding earthquakes.


Maybe I should made myself clearer

Having a evacuation plan
Knowing what to do in case if an earthquake
Setting up our furniture and things in a way that they would not fall upon us when the earthquake comes


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> I know that. Anyone I know in Mexico who was living in the DF at the time the quake (or quakes, were there two?) struck seems much more likely than me to react strongly to even a slight tremor.


It was one earthquake 19 sep 1985 7 20 am, and its replica, next day, that one was very strong as well


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> I know that. Anyone I know in Mexico who was living in the DF at the time the quake (or quakes, were there two?) struck seems much more likely than me to react strongly to even a slight tremor.


Out of fear, many people moved out from Mexico City to Puebla, Queretaro, and near by cities.
I go very often to DF, and I still do not understand why the City keeps growing and why would they try to make it work by building more and more segundos and terceros pisos!


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

PanamaJack said:


> Strange, one hit in Nicaragua as well earlier this morning? Tundra Green is that along that line from Alaska to Chile or the circle of fire?


Both. The plate boundaries that run along the western coast of the Americas are part of what is called the ring of fire that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. A lot of the boundary is composed of subduction zones where one plate goes down under the adjacent plate. This process produces volcanoes, hence the word "fire" in the name.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

GARYJ65 said:


> Maybe I should made myself clearer
> 
> Having a evacuation plan
> Knowing what to do in case if an earthquake
> Setting up our furniture and things in a way that they would not fall upon us when the earthquake comes


My apartment is too small to set up my over-loaded bookcases. so they wouldn't fall on me if a really big one hits my street. My only evacuation plan is to walk slowly down the winding staircase to the street, or would I be safer on the roof?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> My apartment is too small to set up my over-loaded bookcases. so they wouldn't fall on me if a really big one hits my street. My only evacuation plan is to walk slowly down the winding staircase to the street, or would I be safer on the roof?


Stay in your apartment. Get under the kitchen table or the bed. The problem with trying to leave the building is that you can be hit by falling glass or falling pieces of the building facade as you leave.

If your landlord will permit it, have someone bolt the bookshelves to the walls so they can't fall over.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> Stay in your apartment. Get under the kitchen table or the bed. The problem with trying to leave the building is that you can be hit by falling glass or falling pieces of the building facade as you leave.
> 
> If your landlord will permit it, have someone bolt the bookshelves to the walls so they can't fall over.


No kitchen table, but there is one in the living room, but too near to the bookcases for safety. I wouldn't fit under the bed unless I went on a starvation diet. There's no way my landlord will let me bolt the bookcases to the wall. Maybe I should take refuge in the bathroom the next time things begin to tremble. What do you think, TG?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> No kitchen table, but there is one in the living room, but too near to the bookcases for safety. I wouldn't fit under the bed unless I went on a starvation diet. There's no way my landlord will let me bolt the bookcases to the wall. Maybe I should take refuge in the bathroom the next time things begin to tremble. What do you think, TG?


If the living room table is sturdy enough to protect you from falling bookshelves, glass and plaster, then that is the place to go.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> If the living room table is sturdy enough to protect you from falling bookshelves, glass and plaster, then that is the place to go.


It's pretty strong. I guess it will have to do if another monster earthquake strikes Mexico City. Or how about this :behindsofa: ?


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Door jams are also a place to go to if you do not have a strong table. The street is the last place you want to be as falling glass and debris are the main danger. If it is a really big one just pray or have a beer ..nothing much else to do.


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## CanGuy78 (Mar 17, 2013)

I was laying in bed watching "TV" on my computer, my girlfriend said to me "earthquake!" I looked at her dubiously and said "really? that's it?"

We went downstairs to the street and waited for about 15 minutes, met some of the neighbors, no damage to report.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

citlali said:


> The street is the last place you want to be as falling glass and debris are the main danger.


Tell that to the many people who perished in their apartments in the D.F. in September, 1985. 

In Mexico City, fleeing the building, if they can, most buildings, is what people have been told to do .... by the Red Cross, from what I recall.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Whatever you decide to do; you will generally have 30-40 seconds. Then, it is all over but the screaming.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Longford said:


> Tell that to the many people who perished in their apartments in the D.F. in September, 1985.
> 
> In Mexico City, fleeing the building, if they can, most buildings, is what people have been told to do .... by the Red Cross, from what I recall.


That must be why during earthquake drills carried out in Mexico City, people are directed to leave their buildings and wait in the street.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

Isla Verde said:


> That must be why during earthquake drills carried out in Mexico City, people are directed to leave their buildings and wait in the street.


In most of the buildings, those which pre-date earthquake damage prevention retrofits ... the structures of the buildings are compromised by the constant earthquake rumbling. Don't believe the often repeated reports of "no damage." Given the soil conditions and the constant stress on buildings resulting form the 'rattling and rolling' ... being inside during an earthquake doesn't seem a very smart course of action ... if one can avoid it.


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

“My neighbours run in every direction like crazy horses when there’s an earthquake” - news article in _El Universal_.

Residents of some complexes in various parts of Mexico City were interviewed by _El Universal_ correspondents:

”Usually they evacuate in an orderly fashion, but on Saturday it was like a madhouse, because people just ran out. Some windows broke in this building, and the glass was underfoot. It was crazy.”

Residents told reporters that they had not received instructions on what to do to safeguard their lives, and besides, their neighbours did not cooperate, and there was too much apathy.

“People have come to give talks, but when they had an emergency measures session, people were very apathetic, and they did not attend. Or if they did go to the talk, when a person panics – even though they know from the talk what they ought to do, panic takes over.”

“Everyone does their own thing, there is no evacuation protocol. I don’t know whether at some point we received instructions about how to evacuate, but I don’t remember any.”


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Longford said:


> In most of the buildings, those which pre-date earthquake damage prevention retrofits ... the structures of the buildings are compromised by the constant earthquake rumbling. Don't believe the often repeated reports of "no damage." Given the soil conditions and the constant stress on buildings resulting form the 'rattling and rolling' ... being inside during an earthquake doesn't seem a very smart course of action ... if one can avoid it.


I agree, "if one can avoid it". But unless you are already outside when an earthquake occurs, trying to go outside is more dangerous than getting under something and staying where you are.

In the US, most of the buildings are of wood frame construction. This type of construction is light, flexible and does very well during earthquakes. It does even better if it is bolted to the foundation and includes some shear strengthening. As a consequence of the type of construction, the death toll in US earthquakes is usually very low compared to that of comparable earthquakes in other countries.

In Mexico, most of the construction is unreinforced masonry. Concrete, brick and adobe do very well with compressive loads, like gravity, but they don't have much shear strength unless they are carefully reinforced with steel rebar. Unreinforced masonry does very poorly in earthquakes.

This difference is a big part of the explanation for why 63 people died during the 1989 M 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco, 143 died during the 1963 M 9.2 earthquake in Alaska, and more than 250,000 (maybe 650,000) died during the 1976 Tangshan M 7.8 earthquake in China.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

TundraGreen said:


> I agree, "if one can avoid it". But unless you are already outside when an earthquake occurs, trying to go outside is more dangerous than getting under something and staying where you are.
> 
> In the US, most of the buildings are of wood frame construction. This type of construction is light, flexible and does very well during earthquakes. It does even better if it is bolted to the foundation and includes some shear strengthening. As a consequence of the type of construction, the death toll in US earthquakes is usually very low compared to that of comparable earthquakes in other countries.
> 
> ...


I agree on this, on the other hand, not all mexican territory has high sismic activity, and buildings made of brick and concrete last forever and we don't even bother about termites or mold


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## sunnyvmx (Mar 14, 2010)

No mold! In Catemaco, Veracruz the walls get covered by a black mold. It grew on your shoes, in your clothes, on the furniture, in your spices and tea. I lived with it for five years and that's one of the reasons I left.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

Longford said:


> In most of the buildings, those which pre-date earthquake damage prevention retrofits ... the structures of the buildings are compromised by the constant earthquake rumbling. Don't believe the often repeated reports of "no damage." Given the soil conditions and the constant stress on buildings resulting form the 'rattling and rolling' ... being inside during an earthquake doesn't seem a very smart course of action ... if one can avoid it.


I agree with your statement damage sometimes cannot be seen by most people. I was in the 7.2 earthquake in Mexicali in 2010 and saw immediate damage visually but within 2 years and beyond saw many, many buildings being torn down and rebuilt and many being stripped and steel beam girders installed on all the floors and then being "put back" together. 

One Burger King and one MacDonald's still only have the foundation and some of the shell left at MacDonald's and they replaced the only VIPs with a new, upgraded building etc. immediately after they looked repairable.

The main CFE building was patched but later they stripped it to install steel girders also, and are still working on it.

There are many abandoned looking houses and buildings around, not that there wasn´t before the earthquake, but now many more.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

sunnyvmx said:


> No mold! In Catemaco, Veracruz the walls get covered by a black mold. It grew on your shoes, in your clothes, on the furniture, in your spices and tea. I lived with it for five years and that's one of the reasons I left.


That sounds horrible! No wonder you left - it's a wonder that you stayed as long as you did.


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