Today in Disaster history.
On this 19th Day of September 1985, at 07:17:50 (CST) with a moment magnitude of 8.0 and a maximal Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The event caused serious damage to the Greater Mexico City area and the deaths of at least 5,000 people.
The energy released during the main event was equivalent to approximately 1,114 nuclear weapons exploding. The earthquake was felt over 825,000 square kilometers, as far away as Los Angeles and Houston in the United States.
The buildings most damaged were from 6 to 15 stories in height.
One interesting characteristic was that many buildings had their upper floors collapse, leaving the lower floors relatively undamaged.
A survey by the government of the damage done found that few buildings from one to five stories suffered serious damage; the same was true for buildings over fifteen stories.
Several notable buildings were relatively untouched by the quake. One significant example is the Torre Latinoamericana. Despite being 44 stories tall, it survived the 1985 event almost undamaged. It was constructed with two hundred piles extending down over one hundred feet (30 m) into the stable earth stratum.
The region’s infrastructure was severely affected. The number of people with potable water went from six million to 90,000.
6,500 metres (4.0 mi) of primary and secondary water and drainage pipes suffered breaks in 163 places, cutting off water and contaminating it.
516,000 m2 (5,550,000 sq ft) of asphalt was damaged, and 137 schools collapsed.
The number of jobs lost due to the event was estimated at 200,000.
Forty percent of the population was without electricity and seventy percent without telephone service.
1,687 school buildings were damaged. Interruption of classes, either to the lack of facilities and/or the need to help with rescue efforts, affected over 1.5 million students.
On this 19th Day of September, our thoughts are with the people and families of Mexio, whose lives were lost and those who would be forever changed.
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