Lessons Learned from the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake

The Earthquake that struck Mexico City on September 19, 1985, was very devastating that took over 10,000 lives that day. Los Angeles City Fire Department went to Mexico City to study the response and recovery efforts of that disaster. One hundred spontaneous volunteers died in rescuing earthquake victims that were covered under the crumbled buildings. Many of these automatic citizens did not have any crimping knowledge that firefighters and search, and rescue teams use. The reports of many volunteers helping to save others after many buildings fell, lost fingers, hands, and arms, because they did not know how to crimp, and their extremities were crushed or severed.

Many lessons were learned by Mexican officials and Los Angeles Fire Department on how to train volunteers to better response and rescue people safely without further injury to the victim or the rescuer. Officials with the Los Angeles Fire Department feared that such a massive death toll of citizens could occur in Los Angeles and untrained volunteers could also be injured or even killed in trying to save others. Officials wanted to develop a training program that would train citizen volunteers in disaster preparedness, small fire suppression, rescue crimping methods, medical evaluation, medical first aid, shutting down utilities to help prevent fires or natural gas explosions, National Management Incident Command, communicating victim needs to first responders.

The City of Los Angeles developed twenty-hour courses to train citizens on what to do unless first responders can arrive and take over the scene, the program was named, Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT). Officials knew that people are going to get involved and help during a disaster even if they did not know how. The CERT program became of great interest to the rest of the State of California since it is prone to massive floods, fires, and earthquakes. The CERT team received regular practice training and maintain their skills, but CERT has never been put to the test of an actual disaster. Mexico started to train their citizens for in case of the next major earthquake that would strike Mexico.

The Northridge Earthquake of 6.7 magnitudes occurred on January 17, 1994, that struck the San Fernando Valley are near Los Angeles. More than 60 people died, over 9,000 injured and wide-spread destruction. This January 17, 2017, marks twenty years since the Northridge Earthquake of 1994 and is the first time CERT was put to the test. Not one CERT trained volunteer was injured during any rescue operations. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was so impressed that FEMA officials invited Los Angeles officials to help set CERT as a national program for citizens to be trained to help when first responders may not be available to help. The Los Angeles City Fire Department is the flagship of CERT program, which started the CERT program.

Mexico had an earthquake about twelve days ago that struck Chapais, which is a few hours from Mexico City of a magnitude of 8. Mexican first responders had a response exercise early morning of September 19, 2017, plus they were also training search and rescue teams from Colombia and Israel. After the earthquake exercise was completed, an earthquake struck the heart of a popular area of Mexico and all the way to Acapulco, Mexico as a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. The same area of Mexico City was struck thirty-two years ago to this date of September 19, 2017. Citizens of Mexico Went into action after the tremors stopped and made a human chain to help remove broken concrete from buildings to help start rescue operations to get to the victims pleading for help. Teams of citizens were also directing traffic and creating a distant safe zone of the building that was leaning buildings that shifted during the earthquake.

Teams of citizens set up first aid stations and a point of patient transport for ambulances to take the injured to area hospitals. Many citizens that could recharge cell phones for engineers, officials and first responder were returning the charge cell phones who were working the disaster. A team of veterinarians was working with citizens to help recover injured animals and setting up animal first aid stations. Amateur radio operators set up communication base stations and field amateur radio operators to help first responders, the Mexican Red Cross, and the military to coordinate emergency communications. What made this 2017 Mexico City Earthquake so different from the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake, is that the Government of Mexico and the citizens not only learn from the past disaster but this time every citizen was helping local officials in an organized solidarity effort to save as many lives possible.

The world has been experiencing earthquakes within this two-week period. Mexico had an 8.1 magnitude, Guatemala had a 7.1 magnitude about the same time. China had a 5.0 magnitude earthquake, Southern California had a 3.6 magnitude, Southern Illinois had a 3.6 magnitude, and even the Republic of Panama had a magnitude 3.0 earthquake. Most of these other earthquakes of 3.6 magnitudes rarely take people’s lives, unless an object falls on their head, plus there is some damage to structures.

Mexico learns on how to prepare for future earthquakes since the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake where over 10,000 people died, and 100 citizen volunteers also died. Both Mexico and Los Angeles started to train residents on what to do and how to rescue earthquake victims safely. The rest of the world has learned from the earthquakes of Los Angeles and Mexico City on how to better prepare by having earthquake disaster drills, try to evacuate buildings as quickly as possible or take cover from falling debris. The problem with earthquakes, there is very little time to warn the public, people may only have as little as twenty seconds to maybe a few minutes to get to safety or take cover.

One of the reasons Mexico has been training teams from other nations in the world, Mexico is one of the few countries that has the most experience with earthquakes and some of the most experienced trainers, other than The State of California of the USA. By education citizens and continue training of first responders, people will be ready to handle an earthquake situation in the future. The world has learned from Los Angeles and Mexico City on how to turn bystanders into a multiplication force of more rescuers for an earthquake disaster.

Photo of the 1994 earthquake at Northridge area.

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/photos.php

https://scedc.caltech.edu/significant/northridge1994.html