Thousands of people took part in a massive earthquake drill in Mexico City on Monday, Sept. 19, marking the 31th anniversary of the devastating 8.1-magnitude quake in 1985 that killed more than 10,000 people and left large parts of the bustling city in ruins.
In the capital, office workers filed out of buildings and into city parks and squares after sirens sounded the start of the enormous drill.
Workers stood by watching at designated areas they would be asked to flee to in the event of an actual quake.
Drill participant Ana Bernal, said it was important to take these drills seriously.
“I know we’re all working right now and it’s easy not to give it a lot of importance and continue looking at our mobile phone and continue doing what we’re doing but taking part in a real drill and understanding what we would have to do in case of a real emergency is important so that we are prepared to deal with one when it happens,” Bernal said. “We take it seriously and consider it important.”
Firefighters and other first responders treated volunteers who acted as injured earthquake victims in a rescue simulation.
The director of operations at the Torre Mayor building, Felipe Flores, said the exercises are also meant to honour the victims.
“In 1985, we lost of a lot of lives,” said Flores. “These exercises not only honor the memory of those who are no longer with us, but they also create awareness in the new generation, in the youngsters who haven’t experienced such a terrible earthquake as the one we experienced that day and I do not wish for it, but what scientists and statistics say is that we will surely have another earthquake of the same magnitude or higher.”
Official figures put the death toll from the 1985 quake between 7,000 and 10,000 people. Many deaths came from the collapse of residential buildings that didn’t withstand the shaking of the ground.
Dozens of babies and infants were miraculously pulled alive from the rubble of the Juárez and General Hospitals after the earthquake struck. They were placed in a small metal baskets that were passed up through snaking rescue tunnels dug into the hospital ruins.
Doctors were then on stand-by with incubators and emergency equipment.
Mexico City is located in one of the most seismically active parts of the world and is directly affected by recurring movements along the Pacific Plate.
Mexico City was also hit by notable quakes in 1927 and again in 1957.
The earthquake struck at 7:17:50 CST (12:17:50 GMT) on September 19, 1985.
