# A Quake in Mexico City **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134 "2003-01-22T02:43:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134/1 "2003-01-22T02:43:37Z")
There’s been an earthquake in Mexico City, but details here are sketchy. It was supposedly 7.6 on the Richter, the '85 one being 7.8…I hope all Mexico City Dopers are OK. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134/2 "2003-01-22T03:17:57Z")
Thanks **Daoloth**. It was strong enough to roll my chair a few inches backward, but not quite enough to knock things off the shelf. I’m in the southern part of town where the earth is essentially volcanic rock, which absorbs seismic shock fairly well. Off to see the news, to check on the more precarious central neighborhoods… ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134/3 "2003-01-22T03:24:41Z")
[Here it is](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/usphac/index.html). Looks like it was right on the coast. You gonna report feeling it El Mariachi? ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134/4 "2003-01-22T03:45:45Z")
Just filled out the form, **Osiris**. So far looks like little or no structural damage within the city. All the weak and deficient construction was pretty much wiped out by the 1985 event. People are more concerned about the recently installed natural gas underground grid, which had yet to be tested for seismological response and service restoration after interruption. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134/5 "2003-01-22T03:51:48Z")
They said it was 30 miles east southeast from Manzallio…about 310 miles from Mexico City. Just south east of Puerto Vallerta. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134/6 "2003-01-22T03:59:27Z")
Yep, epicenter in Colima and shock felt here. [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/01/21/mexico.quake.ap/index.html) says: MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) – A strong earthquake shook Mexico City late Tuesday, sending panicked residents spilling into the streets and knocking out power to large swaths of the city. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134/7 "2003-01-22T06:03:31Z")
I think about a dozen deaths reported so far. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134/8 "2003-01-22T08:44:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Mariachi Loco \* > Just filled out the form, **Osiris**. Cool. I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to fill one out but we haven’t felt a quake on Oahu in a very long time. Not since I was 3 I think. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134/9 "2003-01-22T11:29:53Z")
OOooohh! My parents are in Guanajuato . . . by the location of the epicenter, they might have felt it, but no damages reported in that area . . . ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quake-in-mexico-city/150134/10 "2003-01-22T20:38:16Z")
We live about 60 miles from the epicenter. It was a terrifying minute-long quake. We lost our home in 1995 to another large quake here. Spent last night outside and just had 2 strong aftershocks so probably again this evening. Fortunately damage in our immediate area has been minimal but the poor city of Colima wasn’t as lucky.