Originally Posted by
Tanic
There is a good illustration in
this New York Times article showing the pattern of damaged buildings extending along an axis from near Zócalo south past Coyocán towards Xochimilco. This must be the parts of the valley where the soft soils shake the hardest.
Parts of CDMX are actually built on lake fill. Earthquakes essentially can cause liquefaction, and we can imagine the old lake beds as a bowl of Jell-O on a table (bedrock). Stick a fork in the bowl of Jell-O, shake the table, and the fork in the Jell-O moves the most.
Link to NY Times article. (My sister lives in Jardines del Pedregal, on solid lava flow - less oscillation, less damage.)
Tenochtitlán, the ancient Aztec capital, was like Venice - built on fill with extensive canals. The final battles the Spanish fought they basically filled the canals with rubble. Tenochtitlán was the center of the City - the Templo Mayor is still there to mark the ancient center.
The redder, the worse the effect.