An earthquake of 7.1 magnitude struck Mexico and it happened to be the 32nd anniversary of an earlier quake from 1985 in which more than 10,000 people lost their lives. The Natural Disaster hit shortly after 1 p.m. about 100 miles from Mexico City and left more than 200 dead. The main airport also suffered damages. A school building collapsed and the toll is believed to be at least 21 students.
Luis Felipe Puente, the director of Mexico’s civil protection agency, confirmed that the death toll was 216 and not 248 as was indicated earlier. The dead included 83 in Mexico City.
Mexico faced two quakes in two weeks
The New York Times reports that the earthquake registered a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 and resulted in heavy and prolonged shaking in the capital. The worst part is that it occurred within two weeks of an earlier quake which was an 8.1 magnitude. That was believed to have been the most powerful one in the country in a century and it left at least 90 people dead, destroyed many properties and millions of people felt the force of the quake.
The opinion of the people in Mexico City who had experienced the previous quake was that the tremors of the current one were more severe. The epicenters of the latest natural disaster and the earlier one of Sept. 7 were separated by more than 400 miles.
The earthquake toppled buildings in Mexico and killed children in a school that collapsed. People ran into the streets to escape the falling debris while many remained trapped under the rubble. Rescue teams are making all-out efforts to extricate people from beneath the debris.
There were reports of buildings collapse on Condesa.
This is a fashionable district constructed atop soft soil and extremely vulnerable to earthquakes.
Earthquake is a natural disaster
Instruments are available to predict seismic activities that result in an earthquake which falls in the category of a natural disaster. However, the intensity of the quake can never be predicted and it translates into the loss of lives, properties, and infrastructure.
It is not possible to prevent such calamities but, town planners can ensure that construction in quake-prone locations is avoided. This is especially true for high-rise buildings because an eight-story apartment building collapsed in this incident and hundreds of residents were affected. The quake brought down more than 40 buildings and other structures and crushed vehicles. There were fears that gas leaks could cause a fire while essential services like the supply of electricity were disrupted.
ABC News has updated the casualty figure to 230 and added that President Donald Trump had talked to President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and extended condolences for the lives lost and the damages. He also offered to send search and rescue teams, which have since been deployed.