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Mexico Earthquake 1985

March 21, 2012 by · Comments Off on Mexico Earthquake 1985 

Mexico Earthquake 1985, A 7.4-magnitude earthquake near Acapulco yesterday rattled the resort town and caused buildings to sway in Mexico City even as officials cited improved preparedness for preventing deaths and widespread damage after a devastating 1985 temblor.

“Buildings and skyscrapers are much more resistant than they were in 1985,” Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard told reporters yesterday. “All of the construction standards have been changed.”

Power was knocked out and windows shattered in several of the capital’s neighborhoods. A section of a pedestrian bridge collapsed on a minibus, injuring one person, and a traffic overpass will have to be demolished after it began to crack, Ebrard said. Even so, there were no reports of any major damage nor were there any fatalities, President Felipe Calderon said yesterday.

In 1985, an 8.1-magnitude quake flattened hundreds of buildings in the capital, leaving more than 9,000 people dead. The quake injured thousands more and left hundreds of Mexico City families homeless.

The epicenter of yesterday’s earthquake was 200 miles southeast of the capital, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In the southern state of Oaxaca, five people were injured, two of them seriously, and 68 homes were damaged near the Oaxaca coast, state Governor Gabino Cue said on his Twitter account yesterday.

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