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Despite the damage, it's a great testament to the construction methods of Mexico, the damage was a far cry from the destruction in Haiti with their substandard construction methods.
No matter what part of the Pacific Rim you're at, earthquake proof construction is a must.
A 7.1 hit Seattle some 15 years ago, and the biggest damage was the dome of the capital building in Tacoma, which was built back in the 1930's.
I believe Japan has the best earthquake proof construction of all the Pacific rim countries, as that 9.1 that struck Fukishima hardly fazed Tokyo. And if you look carefully at the footage of the damage in Fukishima, many of the buildings were left intact, amazingly, but it was the Tsunami that did most of the damage.
Chile also gets some big mega-quakes down there, and, again, it's amazing that so few buildings have collapsed as a result of those quakes.
Here, in Las Vegas, we're not out of the woods, as I hear predictions that the maximum quake that could strike here in 6.8, and if the quake if close to the surface, how prepared is Las Vegas for that?
I don't believe in God or prayers, but they have my compassion.
Fortunately nobody in my family died in Mexico. Hopefully, this time there are not as many casualties as there were in 1985. I wish earthquakes in Mexico stops, I am worried for my family there.
Despite the damage, it's a great testament to the construction methods of Mexico, the damage was a far cry from the destruction in Haiti with their substandard construction methods.
No matter what part of the Pacific Rim you're at, earthquake proof construction is a must.
A 7.1 hit Seattle some 15 years ago, and the biggest damage was the dome of the capital building in Tacoma, which was built back in the 1930's.
I believe Japan has the best earthquake proof construction of all the Pacific rim countries, as that 9.1 that struck Fukishima hardly fazed Tokyo. And if you look carefully at the footage of the damage in Fukishima, many of the buildings were left intact, amazingly, but it was the Tsunami that did most of the damage.
Chile also gets some big mega-quakes down there, and, again, it's amazing that so few buildings have collapsed as a result of those quakes.
Here, in Las Vegas, we're not out of the woods, as I hear predictions that the maximum quake that could strike here in 6.8, and if the quake if close to the surface, how prepared is Las Vegas for that?
I don't believe in God or prayers, but they have my compassion.
Mexico is well prepared for earthquakes as it should be considering its location on the fault line. There obviously is a huge difference between the modern buildings of Mexico City and the shantys of Haiti. Same magnitude earthquake, much different outcome.
Building codes in CDMX have gotten stricter for new buildings; many of the new highrises are marvels of engineering (and design). However, older buildings were not required to retrofit. Most of the newer regs came into existence after the 1985 quake there. Given the magnitude, the City seems to have done quite well. The earthquake (terremoto in Spanish) in the southern part of MX last week was terrible and caused more damage as there are likely few building codes in that area.
This was bad, not only in Mexico City but in the little towns near the epicenter, if you can help with a donation to Topos Rescue Brigade this guys make an awesome work rescuing people in this events:
Mexico is well prepared for earthquakes as it should be considering its location on the fault line. There obviously is a huge difference between the modern buildings of Mexico City and the shantys of Haiti. Same magnitude earthquake, much different outcome.
The earthquake in Mexico City is actually worse than the one that hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Mexico City sits on a lake bed (when Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez conquered Mexico, Mexico City was originally on a lake, something like the Venice of the Native Americans; but the lake was drained or it evaporated.) This means that the land Mexico City sits on is like a gelatine, that amplify the waves. Due to this, once the earth stops shaking, in Mexico City it continues to shake for a little while longer.
Location: San Diego CA>Tijuana, BC>San Antonio, TX
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Originally Posted by dothetwist
Building codes in CDMX have gotten stricter for new buildings; many of the new highrises are marvels of engineering (and design). However, older buildings were not required to retrofit. Most of the newer regs came into existence after the 1985 quake there. Given the magnitude, the City seems to have done quite well. The earthquake (terremoto in Spanish) in the southern part of MX last week was terrible and caused more damage as there are likely few building codes in that area.
The Colegio Enrique Rebsamen in Mexico City that collapsed on all those poor children appears to be a newer 4 story building, it broke my heart to hear of this news and see the video of children being pulled out of the rubble. You can see it before the collapse on Google Maps by plugging in these coordinates and dropping the Google man into the street view.
This is how some of the buildings built by the Spaniards some 300 to 400 years ago were affected by this earthquake.
I think the worst part of this earthquake is that Mexico was in the middle of its celebration of independence from Spain. Just four days ago the main square in the colonial part of Mexico City was the scene of this beautiful celebration. I think Mexico was suppose to be in a festive mode for this whole month.
Location: San Diego CA>Tijuana, BC>San Antonio, TX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AntonioR
This is how some of the buildings built by the Spaniards some 300 to 400 years ago were affected by this earthquake.
I think the worst part of this earthquake is that Mexico was in the middle of its celebration of independence from Spain. Just four days ago the main square in the colonial part of Mexico City was the scene of this beautiful celebration.
The celebration was somewhat somber on the night of 9/15 as the tragedy that occurred just week prior (earthquake in Southern Mexico) was in everyone's mind's, it was mentioned several times during the television broadcasts of the celebration in Mexico City.
The most ironic part is that it happened on the anniversary of the 1985 earthquake, and many people in the city had gone through their annual earthquake drill yesterday morning and were going thru the real deal in the afternoon.
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