an earthquake of 7.4 magnitude shook the center of Mexico and caused at least one death, just when two powerful earthquakes were remembered that left thousands dead in 1985 and 2017, authorities reported.
“One person died from the fall of a wall in a shopping center in Manzanillo (Colima state),” the president said on Twitter. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reported the AFP agency.
The National Seismological Service, which originally placed the magnitude at 6.8, detailed on Twitter that the epicenter was located 59 kilometers south of Coalcomán (state of Michoacán), on the Pacific coast.
Until 4:00 p.m. on September 19, 2022, there have been 217 aftershocks of the M 7.7 earthquake that occurred in Michoacán on September 19, 2022, the largest being M 5.3.
– National Seismological (@SismologicoMX) September 19, 2022
“I thought I would have a heart attack! One by herself arrives in September nervous,” Gabriela Ramírez, 58, a housewife who lives in the Roma-Condesa sector, one of the most vulnerable in the capital, told AFP. stand on muddy ground.
The tremor activated the seismic alert, which sounds a minute before this type of phenomenon occurs, and caused massive evacuations in the capital, of 9.2 million inhabitants.
“So far no damage has been reported,” the mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, wrote on her Twitter account.
Admiral José Rafael Ojeda Durán, Secretary of the Navy, informed me that a person died due to the fall of a fence in a shopping center in Manzanillo, Colima. pic.twitter.com/CmOsWjei0j
– Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) September 19, 2022
Authorities in the state of Michoacán, where the earthquake originated, have not reported any casualties so far, while residents have reported minor material damage.
The seismic alert sounded less than an hour after millions of people participated in a national drill, which takes place every September 19 to encourage prevention.
This is the third earthquake that is recorded on September 19 in the history of Mexico (since records are kept) after the one that occurred in 1985, with a magnitude of 8.1 and which left more than 10,000 dead, the vast majority in the capital. .
On the same date in 2017, another 7.1 earthquake hit the center of the country, with a balance of 369 deaths.
The tremor of this Monday occurred just nine minutes apart from that of 2017.
“It felt terrible. We got out as soon as we felt it, when the alarm sounded,” said Karina Suárez, 37, outside the building where she lives in the central Roma neighborhood.
Foreign tourist records how he felt #Shaking what happened this afternoon, inside his hotel room in #Vallarta Port #Mexico#earthquake #19September #earthquake pic.twitter.com/Iw9uaGGviH
— @Business&Travel Mexico (@MXBTM1) September 19, 2022
Milenio television reported the evacuation of a building on República de Uruguay street, in the historic center of Mexico City, an area characterized by its old and densely populated buildings.
Users on social networks reported the collapse of flimsy exterior walls and broken glass in buildings in the megacity, which together with its metropolitan area brings together some 22 million inhabitants.
Much of the Mexican capital is located on an old lake, so the subsoil is muddy and telluric waves are more intense than on firm ground.
The 2017 earthquake was of a smaller magnitude than this Monday, but the epicenter was about 160 kilometers from the capital, while this Monday’s was about 600 kilometers, according to distances by road.
Earthquake in Mexico magnitude 7.7 epicenter Coalcomán, Michoacán 14 hours onwards @SomosGENNow @Universo970py @hoypy @LaNacionPy #earthquake #Earthquake #earthquakemexico pic.twitter.com/bgNtaftcFI
— Joel Corvalan (@CorvalanJoel) September 19, 2022
