A deadly M 7.1 earthquake struck nearby Mexico City yesterday, leaving over 200 dead and countless missing. Flash Report on Damage Caused in Mexico City, Mexico, by the 2017 Puebla-Morelos Earthquake Tsuneo OHSUMI Dr., Research Center for Reinforcement of Resilient Function, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED), Tsukuba, … Mexico sits atop a complicated juncture of tectonic plates, which have been engaged in a slow-motion collision for over a million years. Advertising Notice In the history of Mexican earthquakes, Tuesday's was coincidentally the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 Michoacan earthquake, which resulted in thousands of deaths. These latest quakes were caused by the movement of tectonic plates, the pieces of Earth’s crust that move and jostle against each other. At least 200 people died, according to the Associated Press and other news outlets. Mexico City’s lakebed geology also make it prone to an even more dramatic disaster: liquefaction. The greatest impact was in densely populated Mexico City, but the shaking was even more intense in Puebla, closer to the epicenter. Continue What many don’t realize is that there’s a simple reason behind this region’s propensity for cataclysms: The geology of Mexico—and particularly that of Mexico City—makes it a perfect storm for seismic catastrophe. “When seismic waves make a basin shake at one of these natural frequencies, significant amplification may occur.”. Miles away in Mexico City the damage has been extensive we begin with ABC's bill Blakemore. Coming off the heels of Mexico City's latest tragedy, however, the focus must be on the people of central Mexico. Plate tectonics was the engine behind the shaking, as is true for all major earthquakes. One might assume that the Sept. 8 … … About 1000 buildings, mostly of masonry and rein- Recovery efforts take place at the collapse of a residential building in Mexico City on September 19. 17th Annual Photo Contest Finalists Announced. Sides of building crumble after Mexican quake, trapped inside the Enrique Rebsamen elementary school, John Vidale: Mexico's earthquake caused by crumpling from the downward bending of the sinking Cocos Plate deep within earth, He says cure for devastation: make buildings earthquake proof. Some of additional damages were indirectly caused by the earthquake. A survivor is pulled out of rubble in Mexico City on September 20. Tuesday's toll indicates there is yet more work to do. The earthquake happened on the anniversary of a 1985 quake that killed an estimated 9,500 people in and around Mexico City. The cause of this earthquake was the plate tectonics by crumpling arising from the downward bending of the sinking Cocos Plate, instead of moving directly by slippage between plates (Vidale). A police officer runs toward the site where a building collapsed in Mexico City on September 19. “The priority now is continue rescuing those who are still trapped and provide medical attention to the injured,” Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto said in a video statement, according to KTLA.com. 7.) Photos show the devastating impact of the deadly 7.1 magnitude earthquake that rattled Mexico City, killing more than 220 people The quake killed at least 220 people Time.com Tuesday's earthquake, however, was caused by crumpling arising from the downward bending of the sinking Cocos Plate, rather than directly by slippage between plates. Further, the tremors caused gas mains to break, causing fires and explosions throughout the city. It produced strong motions felt by more than 12 million people, and noticeably swayed buildings in Mexico’s capital city, some of which collapsed. While it is not yet known if this is a factor for the latest quake, “it would not be surprising,” says Polet. This, as yesterday’s quake shows, causes them to sway—and eventually topple. “A basin will have natural frequencies, which depend on its shape and size, as well as the material properties of the sediments inside,” explains Jascha Polet, a geophysicist at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, via e-mail. Two weeks ago, an 8.1 magnitude earthquake—the strongest in a century —jolted southern Mexico, killing nearly 100 people. The US Geological Survey predicts up to … People gather on a Mexico City street after office buildings were evacuated because of the quake. It was 30 years ago today that at least 5,000 people — some estimates put the number at closer to 10,000, others at four times that — died in the powerful Mexico City earthquake of 1985. Until today, nobody really knows how many people perished as a result of the earthquake. At least 149 people have been reported dead after a devastating earthquake shook Mexico City and the surrounding areas, destroying buildings and sending residents scrambling to … Rescue workers remove rubble from a Mexico City building on September 19. When the damage was finally assessed, 3,000 buildings in Mexico City … A car is crushed by debris in Mexico City on September 19. It struck Mexico 400 miles to the southeast and offshore, not far from Guatemala, and killed dozens of people. Earthquake kills dozens in central Mexico, 5 things you should know about earthquakes, See 15 years of earthquakes in 45 seconds, Search for survivors after tsunami continues, Deadly tsunami hits Indonesian island of Sulawesi, Hundreds of hikers rescued after earthquake, Relatives of missing people wait for news in front of a collapsed building in Mexico City on Friday, September 22. "This [earthquake] taught us that soft soils can magnify motion to a degree never thought possible," University of California at Berkeley engineer Vitelmo Berto told the LA Times in 1986, a year after the disaster. The reason: Ancient sediments that underlie the city trap and magnify the vibrations that ripple through the region. The earthquake caused damage in the Mexican states of Puebla and Morelos and in the Greater Mexico City area, including the collapse of more than 40 buildings. It gets worse. The cure for earthquake devastation is well known -- fix the old buildings and improve construction methods -- and too complex and expensive to accomplish in less than decades. Mexico has been learning how to deal with this problem the hard way. This was also the cause of the 8.1-earthquake that hit Mexico two weeks ago. Depending on the frequency of the seismic waves, the movement of the ground can feed energy into buildings of a certain height. Terms of Use Mexican government officials are still tallying up the economic losses of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that caused widespread damage in the capital, … Patients from a Mexico City hospital receive treatment outside after the hospital was evacuated on September 19. It is not immediately clear whether Tuesday's earthquake was triggered by the earlier one or if it is unrelated -- usually aftershocks are not so distant in time. Mexico City is especially prone to severe damage because it is built on an ancient lakebed that amplifies the effect of earthquakes. Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 quake struck about 76 miles southeast of Mexico City, according to the US Geological Survey. People look for survivors in Mexico City on September 20. In Mexico … Less than 15 minutes after the quake, thousands of people in the capital lay dead and the Mexican economy was shattered for years to come. A volunteer in Mexico City asks for silence as a flattened building is searched for survivors on September 20. By LARRY BUCHANAN, JASMINE C. LEE, SERGIO PEÇANHA and K.K. “Think of pushing a kid on a swing,” Hough adds. Additional damage occurred in Mexico City when adjacent 20 story buildings swayed enough to bump into one another. The temblor nearly flattened the distant Mexico City, yet left many cities close to the epicenter nearly unscathed. “If you start pushing every 5 seconds, it will just mess things up.” That is, the pushes won’t have a cumulative effect. The earthquake caused landslides, rockslides, and sandblows, opened cracks in the ground and damaged or destroyed buildings. (CNN)Another deadly earthquake struck deep under Mexico. A man is rescued under rubble in Mexico City's Condesa area on September 19. But if you push at a consistent frequency, each push will send the child higher into the sky. Soldiers remove debris from a collapsed building in Mexico City on September 20. The quake damaged the Jojutla Municipal Palace. In the 1985 earthquake, many large buildings were destroyed, and Tuesday's quake was another blow mostly to the older, less solidly constructed structures. 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