My friend Alejandro just called me a short time ago to tell me that there was a minor earthquake in Mexico this afternoon. The quake occurred at 1:25 (Central time). It was centered near Zijuatanejo on the Pacific coast and measured 5.4 on the Richter scale.
Sirens in Mexico City sounded, and the app that Alejandro has on his phone warned him of the quake. He left the ground floor office where he works and went out to the street. However, he did not feel anything, and neither did his parents. A cousin who works in a high rise building, however, did feel it strongly.
I find it interesting how people in Mexico City immediately call their family and friends even when there is an insignificant tremor. I suppose it is a very natural reaction for those who survived the "big one" of 1985.
I wonder if people in California react the same way?
Hola Bill!
ReplyDeleteI only heard about this quake today from Edgar in Tehuacán. Apparently he felt it, and he said the epicenter was Mexico City, but I guess not.
And as a native Californian, I can tell you that if a quake is of a decent size, we all call family and friends. But a tremor? No one worries.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where I'm one of the few with (amazingly cheap) earthquake insurance on my house. Of course I'm more at risk from hurricanes, especially this time of year.
Hola, Kim
DeleteMexico City is not on any fault line, so it is never the epicenter. The only reason it is so prone to earthquakes is that the soft soil of the former lakebed amplifies quakes that occur along the Pacific coast.
I don't have earthquake insurance, although we have been known to have some tremors in Ohio. There is a small fault line in Lake Erie.
Hope that the hurricane that is supposed to move northward doesn't hit Boston.
¡Saludos!
Hope that the hurricane that is supposed to move
Rhode Island is, despite its nearness, actually a much worse place to be in a hurricane. The bay tends to funnel all the water up and into Providence and the surrounding areas. In the Great Hurricane of 1930 (or was it 38?), much of Rhode Island was devastated, while Massachusetts was damaged, but the Cape took the force away from the mainland.
DeleteI didn't see your comment earlier. That big hurricane in New England was probably in 1938. I remember my mother told me that she had an aunt that lived in Connecticut at the time. A woman that lived nearby was killed in the storm. When she died she was reading the bestseller of the year, "Gone With the Wind".
DeleteI was on the 18th floor of a Santa Fe office building one morning during a temblor. The building was on rollers and "rolled" back and forth for several minutes following the quake. Scary!
ReplyDeleteI've experienced three tremors while in Mexico City. One was in a movie theater, and I didn't feel it at first. I wondered why everyone was getting out of their seats... and then the movie stopped.
DeleteThe worst one was on Good Friday of 2014. I was roused out of bed, and ran to the street barefoot and wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts. (At least I wasn't the only one on the street barely dressed.)