The earthquake that struck Mexico on Tuesday, killing at least 225 people, owes its deadliness to its origin in the center of the country rather than its overall power.
Mexico is one of the most seismically active nations in the world, perched atop three clashing pieces of the Earth’s crust. It was struck with two deadly quakes this month, including a magnitude 8.1 one that hit the southwest coast on September 8 and killed at least 90 people. (In local time, the earthquake struck a few minutes before midnight on September 7). Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 quake struck about 76 miles southeast of Mexico City, according to the US Geological Survey. It produced strong motions felt by more than 12 million people, and noticeably swayed buildings in Mexico’s capital city, some of which collapsed.
The danger was no surprise to seismologists.
“Everyone in the earthquake business knows that Mexico City is built on pudding,” seismologist Max Wyss of the International Centre for Earth Simulation in Switzerland told BuzzFeed News. “It is uniquely vulnerable to earthquakes.”
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| Earthquakes since 1900 with a magnitude of 6 or more, including the 1985 Mexico City quake (pink) and this month's 8.1 and 7.1 magnitude quakes (red), scaled by the amount of shaking. Background color reflects major earthquake risk. Peter Aldhous/BuzzFeed News / Via earthquake.usgs.gov and Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program |
The danger was no surprise to seismologists.
“Everyone in the earthquake business knows that Mexico City is built on pudding,” seismologist Max Wyss of the International Centre for Earth Simulation in Switzerland told BuzzFeed News. “It is uniquely vulnerable to earthquakes.”