Depth: 20 km At around 7:19 a.m. on September 19, 1985, Mexico City, one of the world’s largest urban areas, was jolted by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake, one of the strongest to ever hit the area. The 2017 Puebla earthquake struck at 13:14 CDT on 19 September 2017 with an estimated magnitude of Mw7.1 and strong shaking for about 20 seconds. Some accounts, however, place the epicentre just off the coast of Michoacán in the Pacific Ocean. The effects of the quake were particularly devastating because of the type of ground upon which the city sits. People run on to streets as Mexico hit by 7.5-magnitude earthquake - video report Tom Phillips , David Agren in Mexico City, and Analy Nuño in Guadalajara Tue 23 Jun 2020 21.48 EDT The ground motion in this area measured five times that in the outlying districts, which had different soil foundations. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. But yesterday, soon after business had resumed, central Mexico was rocked by a real—and deadly—7.1-magnitude earthquake. Map depicting the epicentre of the earthquake that devastated Mexico City on Sept. 19, 1985. The expanse of the subduction zone along which the quake occurred was part of the Middle America Trench, the eastern boundary of the tectonically volatile Circum-Pacific Belt. A 7.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Mexico's southern coastline on Tuesday, collapsing buildings and prompting evacuations, has left at least five people dead, officials said. The quake ruptured the San Andreas fault to the north and south of the city, for a total of 296 miles, and ...read more, The 1964 Alaska earthquake, the strongest earthquake ever recorded in North America, struck Alaska’s Prince William Sound, about 74 miles southeast of Anchorage. The tremor appears to have been stronger than the magnitude 8.0 earthquake in 1985 that levelled large portions of the capital, killing 5,000 people and destroying 10,000 houses. (Pedro Pardo / AFP/Getty Images) 35 / 69 The magnitude-8.0 quake occurred at 7:18 am. Though many were extricated from the wreckage alive, official estimates placed the final death toll at 10,000 people. The event caused serious damage to the Greater Mexico Cityarea and the deaths of at least 5,000 people. The epicenter was under the Pacific Ocean about 60 miles off the coast of Chiapas and the most affected areas are the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Mexico-City-earthquake-of-1985, Mexico City earthquake of 1985: collapsed building, Mexico City earthquake of 1985: toppled building. It was the worst earthquake to hit Taiwan–where quakes are common due to its location in a seismically active ...read more, At 4:31 a.m. on January 17, 1994, a 6.7-magnitude quake struck the San Fernando Valley, a densely populated area of Los Angeles located 20 miles northwest of the city’s downtown. It is the country’s economic and cultural hub, as well as home to the offices of the federal government. Omissions? The first of these occurred on 20 September with a magnitude of 7.5 and the sec… Release Date: September 19, 2017 The USGS has … This detailed timeline of Mexican history explores such themes as the ...read more, A country rich in history, tradition and culture, Mexico is made up of 31 states and one federal district. A powerful earthquake has jolted Mexico City - measuring magnitude 7.1 according to the US Geological Survey (USGS) - causing buildings to sway sickeningly on … Mexico's back-to-back earthquakes, explained by a seismologist New, 3 comments The quake that hit Mexico City today comes less than two weeks after a magnitude … Making matters worse, on the evening of September 20, a magnitude 7.5 aftershock shook the region. Earthquake shakes Mexico City On September 19, 1985, a powerful earthquake strikes Mexico City and leaves 10,000 people dead, 30,000 injured and thousands more homeless. De la Madrid’s government acceded, and two years later, with the help of World Bank funds, nearly 100,000 residences had been refurbished or newly constructed. At least 32 people were killed after a massive 8.1 magnitude earthquake late Thursday. De la Madrid and the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) were forced to acknowledge the opposition groups when the significance of their role in organizing the recovery became clear. The sequence of events included a foreshock of magnitude 5.2 that occurred the prior May, the main shock on 19 September, and two large aftershocks. The magnitude 8.1 … Inhabitants of areas less affected by the quake journeyed to the devastated low-income districts composing the central city in order to assist. With more than 16 million residents, the city had been growing at Miguel de la Madrid and his advisers refused to fully deploy the national emergency plan. All Rights Reserved. https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/1985-mexico-city-earthquake. Although some damage occurred in Michoacán and surrounding regions—including the state of Jalisco, where nearly 600 adobe houses were reduced to rubble in Ciudad Guzmán—the destruction was concentrated in Mexico City as a result of the unique topography upon which the capital is situated. Journalists and other eyewitnesses, however, speculated that several times that number had perished. Updates? At first, the president rejected offers of international aid and played down the damage caused by the quake. The powerful earthquake killed more than 10,000 and left another 30,000 others injured and as many as a quarter of a million people homeless. Some observers interpreted this inaction as a maneuver designed to prevent the military from appreciating political cachet by coordinating the rescue operations. Did you know? Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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