On September 19, 1985 Mexico City experienced one of the most devastating earthquakes in its history. This 8.1 earthquake left more than 10, 000 casualties, the exact number of how many people perished during this earthquake is unknown to day. 32 years later the unexpected happened and on the anniversary of this tragic event a 7.1 earthquake hit Mexico once more. Not only were the people scared, but they were also confused and surprised that this had happened, something that had never crossed their minds, another earthquake the same day and just as devastating. And lets not forget that a week earlier another earthquake had happened in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.
The earthquake which had its epicenter between the states of Puebla and Morelos went all the way to Mexico City, Hidalgo, Guanajuato and Veracruz. Morelos and Mexico City suffered most damages with buildings falling, leaving cars and people underneath them, small towns disappearing and help not being able to get through. The death toll for the moment is 248 with expectation of it incrementing. The earthquake only lasted a minute but for people it felt like hours, hiding under tables and praying to make it out alive seemed like forever.Minutes after the earthquake had shaken the city people who had evacuated their buildings were waiting for everything to calm down, many were recording their reactions but were surprised when buildings with people inside of them began falling in front of their eyes.
Screams and terror were everywhere but this did not stop the Mexicans from trying to help those people. As soon as the alert stopped people quickly began removing debris and hoping to find survivors of these buildings, people started bringing food and giving one another words of support and consolation. Not an hour had passed and there were already hundreds of people in a file passing along the debris, helping the rescuers and all shouting word of support to the people trapped. These efforts were payed when the first person was found and alive, happiness and hope were now surrounding the environment, everyone was clapping and screaming of joy, this had motivated more the people to keep helping.
In the states in which there were no damages people quickly began organizing food drives, asking for water, diapers, first aid, medicines and food donations. The response of how fast the trucks were being filled was amazing. Solidarity was at its highest point. Volunteers from close by cities were beginning to drive to Mexico City to help, doctors, nurses, architects, students everyone was ready to go lend these people a hand. Restaurants opened and offered food for free, neighbors opened their Wi-Fi networks so people could communicate, street vendors began preparing food and cyclist were distributing it along the people helping. Everybody was putting in an effort into helping people and the people of Mexico showed solidarity and union like never before. Rescuers from countries like Panama, Chile, Spain, Honduras, Israel, Colombia, Japan and many more along with their canines were soon flying to help the people. To these countries and brave heroes, I thank you, thank you for helping our country in these thought times.
32 hours have passed since this earthquake hit Mexico City and there are still people trapped, one of the rescuing missions that has grabbed attention of everyone is the one of a school, a school which fell with students and staff inside and of which 70 have been found alive and more than 20 died, most of them were children of first and second grade as well as middle school. Mexico honors these children and we a deeply sorry for your loss, but hope is still in the air as the recuers have made contact with four children who are still alive. More than 20 hours have been spend trying to find these children, but hope is the last thing to die and we are all cheering for these children to keep surviving.
Me living in a foreign country and watching how my motherland is suffering deeply saddens me and make me feel powerless. Knowing that I can’t volunteer, that I can’t be with my family and that I can’t give my full support to my fellow Mexicans has made me felt terrible, and the fact that many people do not realize what is going on makes me feel even worse. As I go to class everyday I see how people are laughing and living life normally, without knowing the tragedy that Mexico is going through makes me feel weird. So to all of those I please ask you to support us, a few words of comfort are more than enough. If you would like to help Mexico you can do so by donating to the Topos who are expert rescuers and help people all over the world, you can donate to the red cross, or you can look for a food drive that will bring basic needs to Mexico, at NMSU you can bring donation to Breland Hall 152, to the International and Border Programs Office from 9:00-4:00.
To the people in Mexico, I applaud you and thank you for making me feel so proud to be Mexican, I applaud your bravery and the solidarity that your are showing. To the canine rescuers I also thank you, thank your for saving people’s lives even when at times humans aren’t as nice to you. I thank you all the foreign rescuers for their help. Thank you and may God give you all strength during these times. Fuerza Mexico! My prayers and thoughts go to you.