September 19: The surprising coincidence of dates for a major earthquake in Mexico

a Mexico Recorded this Monday (19) Another strong earthquake. Just after 1 p.m. local time (3 p.m. GMT), the 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific coast of the country, in the area bordering the states of Michoacan and Colima, at a depth of about 15 km.

It immediately caught the attention of many Mexicans on social media that the earthquake occurred in a September 19The country was hit by severe tremors on the same date in 2017 and 1985, with 369 deaths and more than 10,000, respectively.

Even on this date, a large national simulation is already being run annually to prepare the population for earthquakes and recall the 1985 disaster, the deadliest ever.

On Monday, that was the case. The earthquake in Michoacan came just over an hour after the simulation exercise.

Residents clear the debris of a building damaged after an earthquake hit Mexico City on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo: Alfredo Estrella/AFP)

And in 2017, it was the same: Citizens rallied to remember the victims of the 1985 8.1 earthquake when they were struck two hours later by another 7.1 earthquake.

Suddenly, the Mexican capital, with a population of more than 20 million, has relived the nightmare of 32 years before: buildings were reduced to rubble as volunteers ran through the streets to find victims among the rubble.

earthquake hits mexico

“It’s the same nightmare of 1985,” Georgina Sanchez said in a conversation with AFP shortly after the earthquake.

The question is whether the authorities have learned the lessons of these earthquakes. According to several engineers, researchers and activists interviewed by AFP in 2018, no.

The 1985 earthquake was supposed to be a “before and after” sign in history MexicoSays writer and journalist Hector de Mollon.

The 2017 earthquake in Mexico occurred on the same day as the earthquake that devastated the country in 1985.

After the tragedy, the Mexico City Strict building code was adopted.

Even political analysts point out that this tremor, which overwhelmed the authorities, contributed to the transition from the one-party system to the democratic transition in the following fifteen years.

In 2017, 38 buildings collapsed, most of which were built before 1985, but there were cases when they were modified outside the law.

“It makes me feel so angry every time Mexico City Shaking, it’s like shivering for the first time,” adds de Mollion.

Mexico Against Corruption analyzed 28 buildings and found impressive evidence that, as in 1985, corruption of construction companies and the authorities that should regulate them were responsible for the collapses.

“Earthquakes don’t kill. Corruption kills,” says Salvador Camarena, the organization’s director of investigations.

In addition, no one was arrested for the deaths that caused: corporate members who violated building codes, owners who made erratic alterations that affected the structure, and authorities who failed to act.

The only engineer against whom an arrest warrant was issued for the 1985 collapse, Max Tenenbaum, not only avoided arrest, but continued his work. Two of its buildings collapsed in 2017, killing 23 people, according to Mexicans Against Corruption.