False Alarm

Alejandro has an earthquake alert app on his cell phone.  At 3:17 A.M. this morning the alarm went off, warning of a strong earthquake.  It was very loud and scary, and woke up Alejandro, his dad and me.  Alejandro's sister and nephew upstairs did not hear it, and even though Alejandro called to them, they did not wake up.  As his dad and I headed toward the front door to go outside, we noticed that the neighborhood earthquake siren was not going off.  We didn't feel anything, although there were a lot of dogs barking.  They must have sensed a slight tremor.  After waiting a few minutes, we went back to bed. 

There was indeed an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 near the border of the states of Guerrero and Michoacán, about 180 miles away.  I have not read of any casualties or damage in that area.  

I have experienced a number of minor earthquakes during my many trips to Mexico City.  You might wonder why I am planning to move to such a seismically active area.  Well, my reasoning is not scientific, but I don't expect to experience a "big one" in my lifetime.  From past experience, it seems that Mexico City has a major earthquake every thirty years, more or less.  In 1957 a 7.6 magnitude quake destroyed numerous buildings in the city and toppled the gold-gilt "angel" from the top of the Monument to Independence. Twenty eight years later, in 1985, the city was devastated by the catastrophic 8.1 quake that killed more than 10,000 people.  In 2017, thirty two years later, on the anniversary of the '85 tragedy, a 7.1 earthquake killed more than 300 people.  I was at home in Ohio when that one struck.  Judging by the city's track record, unless I live well into my nineties, I am not going to be around for another disastrous quake. 

Anyway, just in case any of my readers should read about today's early morning quake, here in Mexico City, we did not even feel it.