Mexican 8.2 Earthquake

[waltky]

Can we afford to with the damage of two hurricanes?...

Will the U.S. help after Mexico's most powerful earthquake in a century?
September 8, 2017 • In the short time between the immense flooding in Texas wrought by Hurricane Harvey and the destruction to come in Florida wrought by Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful earthquakes in Mexico's history rocked the country.

Mexico City, more than 600 miles away, shook amid the tremors. The death toll has surpassed 30 and continues to climb as Mexico, too, prepares for a hurricane — Katia, Category 2, expected to slam into Mexico's east coast on Saturday. The Mexican government will stretch itself as it tries to ensure the safety of its citizens, and it's perhaps worth wondering whether its neighboring government to the north will lend a hand. The United States, as noted earlier, is handling the aftermath of one unprecedented disaster (Harvey) while trying to ready itself for yet another potentially unprecedented disaster (Irma). It, too, will stretch itself ying to ensure the safety of its citizens.

But in the wake of Harvey's catastrophic flooding, the Mexican government offered its assistance to Texas even while President Donald Trump again insisted Mexico would pay for his wall along the border between the two countries. On Aug. 27, the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations office released a statement rebuking Trump, but concluded by offering help to anyone in the U.S. reeling from Harvey: "The Government of Mexico takes this opportunity to express its full solidarity with the people and government of the United States for the damages caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas, and reports that we have offered the US government all the help and cooperation that can be provided by the different Mexican government agencies to deal with the impacts of this natural disaster, as must good neighbors in times of difficulty."

The Mexican government, in contact with the State Department and the government of Texas, reportedly offered to help residents affected by Harvey in the same way the nation's government helped victims of Hurricane Katrina, which rocked Louisiana and other states in 2005. Texas Governor Greg Abbott accepted the offer. Following Katrina, Mexican soldiers found themselves on U.S. soil for the first time in more than 150 years. They stayed for three weeks in Louisiana and Mississippi, according to The Washington Post, where they delivered about 184,000 tons of supplies, and around 170,000 meals.

A State Department spokesperson wrote in an email that Mexico hasn't requested aid following the earthquake, but that the U.S. government is "in close contact with Mexican authorities as we monitor the situation." "In addition to Mexico, we are monitoring the situation in Guatemala and El Salvador closely regarding earthquake and tsunami-related impacts," the spokesperson wrote. Trump has so far not publicly spoken about potential aid to Mexico, and, yes, that means no tweets, either. President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto, however, tweeted his thanks to friendly nations and leaders for their solidarity and support. Maybe that tweet is genuine. Maybe it's a subtweet. Maybe both.

Will the U.S. help after Mexico's most powerful earthquake in a century?

 

[Mousterian]

With the obscene amount of our taxes being used to enrich the manufacturers of death machines, we could easily rebuild Mexico from the ground up.
Can't see it happening any time soon.

 

[Kosh]

This was caused by the Russians colluding with Trump.

Just like the Russians had a hard time steering the Hurricanes to help Trump look good!

 

[waltky]

Mexican government said it could no longer offer aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas...

After deadly earthquake, Mexico says it can't help Texas recovery
Sept. 12, 2017 -- After a devastating earthquake in Mexico killed more than 90 people last week, the Mexican government said Monday it could no longer offer aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

Shortly after the hurricane struck the Houston area and the magnitude of destruction was beginning to be realized, Mexico offered an array of services to help with the recovery, including medical teams, helicopters, even troops. And Texas Gov. Greg Abbott accepted some assistance in the form of mobile kitchens. But after last week's earthquake, which was more than 8.0 on the Richter Scale, the Mexican government decided it would need to spend its resources on its own natural disaster.

A woman tries to clean up in the aftermath of an earthquake in Juchitan Municipality, Oaxaca State, Mexico, after Thursday's deadly earthquake. On Monday, the Mexican government said it can no longer aid Texas' recovery because it would need every resource to help its own citizens.​

According to the latest death toll, 96 people lost their lives in the earthquake and more than 2.5 million people were estimated to be affected by the damage. "Given these circumstance, the Mexican government will channel all available logistical support to serve the families and communities affected in the national territory," the Mexican foreign ministry said Monday, according to the Guardian.

Abbott said he understood the reasoning for the decision. "We are grateful for Mexico's offer of assistance in the aftermath of Harvey, and fully understand and support the decision to redirect their resources back home in the wake of this deadly earthquake," said Abbott's spokesman, John Wittman, according to the Dallas Morning News.

After deadly earthquake, Mexico says it can't help Texas recovery

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

So mehico isnt going to give back the money we give them every year to help our hurricane victims?
Gee what a surprise...........

 

[waltky]

Dey keep comin' across the border an' Granny gonna put another hex on `em...

2 devastating earthquakes have hit Mexico in as many weeks. Here’s why.
September 19, 2017 - A powerful earthquake shook Mexico City Tuesday afternoon, crumbling buildings in the nation’s capitol. The event comes 11 days after the most powerful earthquake to hit the nation in decades killed around 100 people and destroyed more than 45,000 homes.

What happened? The U.S. Geological Survey said a magnitude 7.1 quake struck near the town of Raboso in Puebla, approximately 76 miles southeast of Mexico City, at a depth of 35 miles. This USGS reading is preliminary, but Mexico’s National Seismological Service released similar numbers for the earthquake’s strength. A USGS official told the Associated Press that Tuesday’s earthquake was not an aftershock of the disaster that struck near Chiapas on Sept. 8, due to the large distance between the two events.

Damage report: By Tuesday evening, 149 people had died from the earthquake, according to the AP, which didn’t provide a breakdown by region. The governor of Morelos, a state in central Mexico, said earlier in the day 42 people died there, while eight more deaths were reported in Mexico State, which borders Mexico City. The interior department of Puebla, where the quake hit, reported 11 deaths. Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said at least 20 buildings had collapsed, with reports of people being trapped inside. Social media posts from Mexico City show cracked facades and toppled buildings in populated areas, as locals fill the streets. Gerardo Lazos, a journalist with Patito Television, filmed his home in Mexico City shaking during the quake. But the event likely caused devastation throughout much of central Mexico.

Damages are seen after an earthquake hit in Mexico City, Mexico​

Why so many quakes in Mexico? Mexico is part of the Ring of Fire, the rim where the tectonic plates of the Pacific Basin jam into those propping up North America, South America and Asia. The Ring of Fire accounts f or 90 percent of the planet’s earthquakes. But Mexico is especially seismic because it sits on three giant tectonic plates. Moreover, the nearby oceanic crust — the Cocos plate — is denser than the landmass carrying the central portion of the country. As the two plates collide, Mexico’s softer earth crumples, which explains why mountain ranges line the eastern part of the nation.

The Chiapas earthquake in early September also struck an area that seismologists have been watching closely for several years, as Lizzie Wade explained in Science Magazine: The epicenter of the quake, which struck just before midnight local time, was just southeast of the Tehuantepec gap, a 125-kilometer-long stretch of Mexico’s Pacific coast that has been seismically silent since record-keeping began more than a century ago. All along that coast, the ocean’s tectonic plates meet the continental North American plate and are forced underneath it. Violent earthquakes mark the release of built-up pressure between the grinding plates. But the ruptures have somehow avoided the Tehuantepec gap and the Guerrero gap, more than 500 kilometers to the northwest.

2 devastating earthquakes have hit Mexico in as many weeks. Here's why.

 

[waltky]

Quake collapses school in Mexico City...

21 children dead, dozens missing after quake collapses school in Mexico City
Sept. 20, 2017 -- Rescue teams frantically sifted through debris of a flattened schoolhouse in Mexico City Wednesday, in a race to find dozens of children who remain unaccounted for, just hours after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit.

At least 21 children and four adults have been reported dead after the Enrique Rebsamen primary and secondary school collapsed from the quake. But Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said there could be 30 more people, mostly children, trapped under the debris. But there is still hope lives will be saved. Wednesday night, El Universal reported that five people were found alive in the rubble. The night before, eleven people were saved. A young boy who was attending the school described the moments when the earthquake hit to NBC News. "I was in my English class and the ground started to vibrate. I said it was shaking because no alarm went off. I said it was shaking and we all went down quickly," he said. " And that's when I made the nest decision of my life, which was not to go to the left, which is where where everything fell first. I went to the right with my friends and we were going down the stairs. The powerful quake struck Tuesday afternoon in Chiautla de Tapia, a small town in Puebla state 80 miles south of Mexico City, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Rescue workers search in the debris of collapsed buildings in Mexico City, Mexico, on Wednesday, a day after a powerful 7.1 earthquake that struck central Mexico.​

A volunteer rescue worker, Pedro Searrano, said sounds could be heard from the building as he and other rescuers worked. It was unknown if they were cries from those trapped or sounds of rubble shifting. Officials said the death toll was raised to 225 on Wednesday afternoon -- at least 94 in Mexico City alone. Twelve were found dead in the state of Mexico, 732 died in Moralos, 43 in Puebla, four in Guerrero and one in Oaxaca. In the autonomous district comprising Mexico City, officials said at least 800 people were injured. At least 44 buildings in Mexico City were destroyed. Mexico is still recovering from an 8.1-magnitude earthquake less than two weeks ago -- but while Tuesday's earthquake was less severe, it occurred in a more densely populated area of Mexico.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has clashed with Pena Nieto over border issues, said in a Twitter message, "God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you." Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said his state would "offer any support to aid Mexico," and a spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that "the United Nations stands ready to assist." Incidentally, the quake happened just hours after an annual earthquake drill in the Mexican capital -- which was implemented after a devastating 8.0 quake hit Mexico City on the exact same day, Sept. 19, in 1985. It killed more than 6,000 people. Mexico was also hit by Hurricane Katia earlier this month, and the Popocateptl volcano, southeast of Mexico City, vented a large cloud of ash on Tuesday.

21 children dead, dozens missing after quake collapses school in Mexico City

See also:

All children at collapsed Mexican school accounted for
Sept. 21, 2017 -- All children who were in a schoolhouse in Mexico City when it collapsed during an earthquake earlier this week have been accounted for, a Mexican navy official said Thursday.

Rescuers had been searching the Colegio Enrique Rebsamen school since shortly after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck on Tuesday afternoon. Adm. Jose Luis Vergara told Foro TV on Thursday that they believed at least one girl was trapped alive in the rubble. But later Thursday, Angel Enrique Sarmiento, sub-secretary of the Mexican navy, said there were no children remaining in the rubble. "We are certain that all the children either passed away, are in local hospitals, or are safe and sound in their houses," he told reporters. Nineteen children and six adults died in the crushed school.

Sarmiento said he's unsure how people came to believe a 12-year-old girl was trapped, but authorities now believe an adult woman is alive under the rubble. Rescuers are attempting to extricate her. "We want to stress, this story about a girl whose name was out in [news casts], we've never had any knowledge of this version," Sarmiento said, as quoted by BuzzFeed. At least 273 people were killed -- a toll that rose slightly from Tuesday to Wednesday -- and scores more are injured across central Mexico. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said late Wednesday night the top priority is finding survivors. He said more than 50 people have been rescued. The government has set up dozens of shelters for people whose homes were destroyed or damaged.

Rescue services and volunteers search for victims on Thursday under the debris of the school that collapsed in the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico City.​

Dozens of buildings have been flattened by the earthquake around central Mexico. It struck Tuesday, on the 32nd anniversary of a magnitude-7 quake that killed thousands in and around Mexico City in 1985. As Mexico grapples with the aftermath of a generational earthquake, the U.S. Department of Defense said dozens of disaster recovery workers who are part of the USAID program were dispatched to Mexico City to help with the recovery. Those workers include members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department who are specially trained for quake response efforts. The fact the country was rocked by two earthquakes in 11 days has seismologists puzzled. The initial tremor, a magnitude-8.1, was followed by an apparently unrelated quake in the same tectonic region, but their varying depths and distance led scientists to conclude the first would have had little to no effect on what caused the second.

Though the second quake was less powerful by a factor of 10, the epicenter's shallow depth of 50 kilometers combined with the geographic characteristics of the area are what made it so much more devastating. "The combination of the earthquake's location, radiated seismic energy, and the very foundations of Mexico City -- thick, loose soils that behave like a bowl of jelly during earthquakes -- created the conditions for devastation," Steve Hicks, a seismologist with the University of Southampton told The Guardian. In some towns outside the capital city, thousands of people were left homeless. Jojutla, in Morelos state, was particularly hard hit. "Jojutla is damaged badly, but there are communities that have suffered the same or worse," said Óscar Cruz, a spokesman with the local Catholic diocese, told The Guardian. "What's tragic is that the damage is worst in the poorest pueblos." The state governor of Puebla said 1,700 homes there were declared uninhabitable, and nearly every structure in the town of Metepec sustained damage.

All children at collapsed Mexican school accounted for

 

[waltky]

Aftershock of earlier quake...

New Earthquake, Third This Month, Hits Mexico
September 23, 2017 - A powerful earthquake rocked Mexico on Saturday, triggering new alarms in a country struggling to recover from two recent quakes that killed a total of nearly 400 people.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the new quake had a magnitude of 6.1 and was centered in the southern state of Oaxaca, about 360 kilometers (225 miles) southeast of Mexico City, which was still reeling from Tuesday's 7.1 magnitude quake that killed at least 300 people. Officials said Saturday's quake was felt in Mexico City, swaying buildings in the capital. It was not immediately clear whether it caused damage, injuries or deaths. Mexico's disaster agency said Saturday's quake was an aftershock of the 8.1 quake that hit Mexico's southern coast on September 7, killing nearly 100 people. Rescue workers continued to search through rubble from Tuesday's quake, but were forced to suspend some rescue efforts by the shaking Saturday, according to Mexico's civil protection agency.

Rescue workers and volunteers stand in the middle of the street after an earthquake alarm sounded and a small tremor was felt during rescue operations at the site of a collapsed building in Roma Norte, in Mexico City​

The crews, supported by teams from nations around the world, including Israel, Japan and the United States, have rescued at least 60 people in Mexico City and surrounding towns. On Thursday, the U.S. Agency for International Development sent a more than 60 disaster responders and tools and medical equipment to Mexico City. As of Friday, rescuers were finding more bodies than living survivors, but officials said there were signs of life at some sites picked up by dogs and sensors. The Mexican military said 115 people had been pulled alive from the rubble.

Rescue workers, some holding their arms up as a sign to maintain silence, search for survivors at an apartment building at Amsterdam and Laredo streets that collapsed during an earthquake in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City, Mexico​

President Enrique Pena Nieto insisted rescue operations would continue. He praised Mexicans' rapid response to the disaster, while stressing the priorities remained saving lives and getting medical attention to those in need. "I need to recognize the volunteers who are unconditionally helping those who need it," Pena Nieto said. National Civil Protection Chief Luis Felipe Puente said 155 of the fatalities had occurred in Mexico City. In a tweet Friday, he said the death tolls remained unchanged in other areas, with 73 in the state of Morelos, 45 in Puebla, 13 in Mexico state, six in Guerrero and one in Oaxaca.

While officials remained focused on searching for survivors and caring for those who were injured in Tuesday's temblor, those whose lives were upended were wondering what would happen to them. About 2,000 homes were damaged in the quake. Many were rendered uninhabitable. Mexico set up 50 shelters to house quake survivors, but some people were choosing to sleep in the streets, fearing more aftershocks.

New Earthquake, Third This Month, Hits Mexico

 

[waltky]

Who's fault is it?...

Blame starts to fly over Mexico earthquake collapses
Wed, Sep 27, 2017 - Allegations of negligent construction and poor oversight began to fly on Monday after deadly building collapses during Mexico’s earthquake on Tuesday last week, as hope faded of finding more survivors of a disaster that killed more than 300 people.

The most high-profile collapse occurred at a school where 19 children were killed last week — a structure which was built illegally on land reserved for housing, local media reports said. The Mexico City mayor, the minister of education and the top official for the district all traded blame after reports that the Enrique Rebsamen elementary school operated using false documents. “If confirmed, it would be very serious,” Mexican Minister of Education Aurelio Nuno told TV network Televisa, adding that he had ordered an investigation.

The government has also been criticized by anguished families of people still missing after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake. “All they tell us are lies,” said Anel Jimenez, 42, whose cousin Martin Estrada, a 30-year-old accountant, was inside a seven-story office building when it collapsed. “No one from the government has come to show their face. They just send low-profile officials, who always have clean helmets and shiny shoes. They just come to see what they can get out of other people’s pain,” Jimenez said. Political analysts said the quake underlined politicians’ lack of credibility, less than a year out from presidential elections.

A man carries shovels on Monday after an earthquake in San Juan Pilcaya, Mexico, the epicenter of last week’s magnitude 7.1 quake.​

Just 35 percent of Mexicans approve of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s response, a poll by the Reforma newspaper said. “Anger with the political class will be the political aftermath of the earthquake,” the Eurasia Group consulting firm said. “This shows the deeply rooted discontent which is likely to continue.” Rescue workers have now wrapped up their efforts at all but five sites in Mexico City, and the chances of pulling any more survivors from the rubble are dim. However, Pena Nieto has been careful to insist that authorities will not send in bulldozers to start cleanup until rescuers are absolutely certain there are no more people in the rubble.

The building where Estrada’s cousin was located, at 286 Alvaro Obregon Avenue in the trendy Roma neighborhood, is now the main search site. It crumpled into a tangled heap of concrete and steel with 132 people inside. Twenty-nine people were rescued alive from the building in the first days, and 69 across the city. However, since late Friday, only bodies have been recovered. In Mexico City, people have began to warily return to work and school. After nearly a week of eerie quiet in the sprawling city of 20 million people, the capital’s notorious traffic jams were starting to appear again. Of the capital’s 8,700 schools, 103 reopened on Monday, the Mexican Ministry of Education said. The rest were due to resume classes in the coming days, after undergoing architectural inspections.

The stakes are high for an already widely criticized government. After an earlier earthquake on Sept. 7, all schools were given a clean bill of health. However, the city was shocked by the elementary school collapse that killed 19 children and seven adults. An aftershock on Saturday that shook Mexico City has made the country all the more jittery. And the sense of vulnerability has only been heightened by the fact that Tuesday’s earthquake struck on the anniversary of a 1985 quake that killed more than 10,000 people, the worst in Mexican history.

MORE

See also:

Collapsed Mexico School Raises Questions About Quake Codes
September 26, 2017 — On paper at least, the Mexico City school appeared to be structurally sound and built to withstand a major earthquake. But it collapsed, killing 26 people, most of them children. Authorities are now looking into whether an apartment reportedly built on top of the two-story school was to blame.

Claudia Sheinbaum, the borough president of the southern Mexico City district where the school went down in the 7.1 magnitude quake, said at a news conference Tuesday that the school appeared to have its paperwork in order, at least according to documents filed by architects and engineers who supposedly inspected the structure. She said investigators would look for abnormalities not revealed in those documents. "We can't stop just with the paperwork," Sheinbaum said. "We are going to do a review of the building itself."

Volunteers bring pieces of wood to help prop up sections of the collapsed Enrique Rebsamen school, as rescue workers search for children trapped inside, in Mexico City​

Authorities said that the owner of the privately owned Enrique Rebsamen school built an apartment for herself on top of the collapsed wing, which local media said included a Jacuzzi, and were looking into whether the extra weight may have played a role in the collapse. Sheinbaum said that she didn't know whether that was true, but that the owner, Mónica García Villegas, had a permit dating to 1983 to build a school and apartments on the lot, though it was unclear whether she had permission to add a third story to the section of the school that collapsed.

Were standards followed?

The school was just one of dozens of buildings that collapsed in the September 19 quake that killed at least 333 people, 194 of them in Mexico City. Questions have been raised about whether new building standards put in place after a 1985 quake that killed 9,500 people had been adequately followed. Although construction began on the school in 1983 — two years before the new codes went into effect — it was expanded over the next 34 years with no evidence of noncompliance, Sheinbaum said. She said the only immediately evident paperwork problems during that time were two cases of unregistered expansion work, and Garcia Villegas paid a fine for not registering the work and was allowed to proceed. Phone calls to a number registered to Garcia Villegas — who was pulled alive from the rubble — rang unanswered.

Rescue workers and a trained dog search for children trapped inside the collapsed Enrique Rebsamen school in Mexico City​

Seismologists and engineers say the Mexico City buildings most at risk in a quake are those, like the school building, that were built atop an Aztec-era lake bed, where the muddy soil can amplify earthquake waves. But, although an architect signed a document certifying the school was structurally sound, experts questioned the method used to evaluate it, which Sheinbaum said involved piling sandbags on its upper floors to simulate 85 percent of the structure's maximum design-carrying weight and then measuring the resulting floor sag. Kit Miyamoto, a structural engineer and California Seismic Safety Commission member, said sandbags can't test for earthquake resistance. "Seismic is a lateral force, so if you just put a whole bunch of sandbags, it is not going to tell you the story of the seismic capacity of the building at all," Miyamoto said. "You can do testing, to determine what kind of reinforcement" a building has, including ground-penetrating radar or exposing rebar.

Additions, floors