Mexico City / MEX Area 19 Sep 2017 Earthquake Damage / Issues
 

Mexico City has experienced a serious earthquake, centered in nearby Puebla. The 'quake has caused significant damage, including the MEX control tower.

AICM was closed for a short time. (My sister and nephew were en route from LAX on Internet and their aircraft is being diverted, though we don't know to where yet.)

Today is the 32nd anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake of 1985.

TWO quakes now.

7.1 centered in Puebla state, and now a 6.8 centered in Morelos (other side of the City).

Just terrible. I've been looking at the flight diversions which have been all over the place. What will be interesting to see is where the longhauls from Europe divert to. Last I looked, most were still continuing onward towards MEX, like your sister's flight.

My sister just sent a WhatsApp they landed at AICM! By way of CUL, GDL and TLC. Too bad they can't get the extra miles... LAX-CUL-GDL-TLC-MEX.

Saw a few videos - does not sound like a good time to be in DF :(

My "genre" (peeps) on the ground are saying this was worse than the 8.0 two weeks ago (the 8.0 epicenter was distant, these were much closer), and are reporting chaos. 42 reported dead in my home state of Morelos, so far. (They arrived T-1 and are en route to their home.)

Main Airport roads are closed; the Terminal 2 road is a mess. Some looting, mostly assaults on automobiles, are being reported.

...and of course, I have a trip planned to MEX for next week. I suppose, my timing could have been worse. :(

If there are no sequels, it should be reasonable by next week.

My sister and nephew tell me this evening they're not much traffic and they've made it home (Jardines del Pedregal, not at all "downtown",) okay.

of course I had a trip in the UK when MAN was attacked, and of course again I am going to MEX this Friday when this happened...

For now, AA's travel advisory does not even cover any dates after tomorrow. My coworkers (frequent travelers) were like "just cancel your trip asap"...

You'll be fine. I was in T2 at MEX yesterday when the quake hit. My flight was cancelled last night and re-booked for this morning. I spent last night in Mexico city and flew out of T2 this morning.

The main airport road (Entrance road to T2) was fixed within 2 hours of the earthquake.

Mexico city appears to be in pretty decent shape. I took a cab downtown last night and the city appears to be in good shape. Minimal power outages, roads are in good shape, etc. the worst damage is pretty localized closer to the epicenter and isolated to buildings of poor construction.

I'm in Merida tonight and all is well in this corner of Mexico.

Mexico City / CDMX is not back to normal at all. My friends and relatives there are keeping me informed. The "Topos" (moles) and other formal and ad Hicks rescue teams continue searching for trapped people and in many cases removing debris by hand due to the danger of heavy equipment crushing people. Rescue efforts continue at Rébsamen elementary school to rescue children still trapped.

Many shelters have been established to house the many suddenly homeless. Aid workers are still arriving from various countries.

Mexico races to save 12-year-old girl as quake toll hits 237 - Reuters
https://apple.news/Amp-p-d61S2aNjMvocpQMQA

In Mexico City, rich and poor had little in common. Until the earthquake hit. - The Washington Post
https://apple.news/ANDsxX0BPTgeonLfDNbDBGA

Seven hotels are currently temporarily closed due to earthquake damage:

Holiday Inn Coyoacán
Le Méridien Mexico City
Eurostar Suites
Hotel Ejecutivo
Excalibur
Hotel Filadelfia Suites
Hotel Misión

Am due to be there September 29 - October 5, right now I am still going as most things I am seeing/doing look to have come through it OK, including Foro Sol where I am seeing U2 on 10/3-4, but am monitoring the situation.

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.

Thanks for the article link ^

Interestingly enough from some news sources this type of earthquake apparently did more damage to about six story buildings due to DF's (sorry CDMX is still new to me) soil.

I was there a few months after the 1985 earthquake when things were mostly cleaned up, but you could still see damage even then. Remember going inside one of the old churches, and you could see how it tilted by the way wires for hanging lamps would not be parallel to the walls :eek:

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.