There was no time for an advance visit or anything. It was still run totally by the PRI. It shook for thirty or forty seconds. I don’t think I succeeded and he had to go to the Foreign Secretary, and finally to President de la Madrid. On this day in 1985, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake rocked Mexico City and its surrounding environs at 9:17 a.m. EDT (7:17 a.m. local time). It was something she very much wanted to do. It is the third largest country in Latin America and has one of the largest populations—more than 100 million—making it the home of more Spanish speakers than any other ...read more. All Rights Reserved. Later, the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico City, led by John Bruton, collected large sums of money and rebuilt schools. The Embassy had a telephone network, in which everyone calls everyone else in a certain order. Mission Mandate: To airlift aid to Mexico City after a major earthquake. Ultimately, most of the exchanges were badly damaged or destroyed. To this day, the Mexicans say it was less than 20,000. We just sent advance teams directly to Mexico to get this set up on about 48-hour’s notice and coordinated with the embassy to work out a schedule which mainly involved the First Lady arriving, going to Los Pinos, meeting with de la Madrid, giving him the check, touring some sites of devastation around the city, meeting with the embassy staff and saying some words with them and then flying on to California. On the morning of September 19, 1985, an 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit the western states of Mexico and including Mexico City. Robert S. Pastorino describes the disaster and the embassy’s response to it. Most of these people interacted with Mexican lower level government officials and with the Mexican population. I really caught hell for that from the staff later because the Department neglected to tell anyone or inform our families. I remember doing up the format. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. So there was probably 100,000 tourists. The Embassy had ten or twelve other physical facilities around the city. We had to worry about the American School, the American Hospital, and other American institutions. I am so-and-so and I’m ok. In the aftermath of the 1985 earthquake, an early-alert earthquake warning system was established in Mexico City and other safety measures were enacted. It is the country’s economic and cultural hub, as well as home to the offices of the federal government. On September 19, 1985, at 7:17 A.M., a Richter magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred on the Pacific coast of Mexico. I knew that many Embassy people took in Mexicans and donated things and sympathized. There was a very large earthquake in September of 1985. “Here come the Americans to blow up our Mexican buildings.” Would it work? We probably had 25,000 resident Americans and many, many American tourists. If she wanted to go to sleep it would have been in view of the elements. There was a huge controversy. He had a tendency shared by almost all politically appointed ambassadors, including [Patrick] Lucey at times, to sometimes speak out on Mexican affairs as if they were presidents of Mexico rather than ambassadors to the country. I remember helping develop a security plan of where to put the police lines to keep the people an appropriate distance away. Q: Well, then, if Gavin would make these statements, like obviously there was a problem of corruption which led to deaths, could the media mention that? The leading newspaper of the day was called Excélsior, and it was truly an awful newspaper. She is not going to be able to do anything material. The earthquake lasted around three minutes causing older buildings and poorly constructed infrastructure to fall. As Mexico City is situated on an ancient lakebed plateau … Country Mexico Location Mexico City Brief Overview of the Disaster On September 19, 1985, at 7:19 a.m., Mexico City was struck by an earthquake that measured 8.1 on the Richter scale and lasted more than a minute and a half. He and Connie Gavin did a tremendous amount of fund-raising and charity work then and later in helping the victims…. I was in the Embassy in my office at 7:30 in the morning. Gavin, who is very compassionate about these things, really felt the tragedy. You had one sentence. Most of the items were legitimately needed, although during the first few days even the Mexicans didn’t really understand the extent of the damage and what was needed for relief. That was due to a tremendous effort on part of Embassy people to coordinate the activity, efforts which of course were invisible to the outside…. To get a better idea about the high stakes treatment. They were perturbed at the Ambassador’s estimate for some reason, but I am convinced the real total was closer to his estimate. I had the great honor to cut the ribbon at one project where I went with Henry Cisneros and Bob Krueger because San Antonio, where Cisneros was the Mayor, donated the money to rebuild a school. That continued for five years. Actually, that earthquake, and I think perhaps Gavin’s taking a very out-front role and really expressing the damage and so on, the follow up to that by the Mexican citizenry I think really led in some interesting and strange way to the ultimate defeat of the PRI several years later. Heavy machinery, medical supplies, and excavation equipment descended into the city to help with rescue efforts. This is a city and urban area of 20 million people in the valley, of which seven or eight million people were directly affected by the loss of services; the loss of electricity, water, sewage facilities, all of which began to cause disease problems. On September 19, 1985, at 7:18 in the morning, the residents of Mexico City were jolted awake by an 8.1-magnitude earthquake, one of the strongest to ever hit the area. There were American guests at this hotel and one of the officials actually pulled out bodies. We got on the plane and flew to California. The effects of the quake were particularly devastating because of the type of ground upon which the city sits. Interested in Recording Your Oral History, Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training. But early that morning, some lines were still open. The 1985 Mexico City earthquake was definitely one of the most devastating natural disasters in history. Americans are very generous and they immediately began to collect and provide goods to load up airplanes. The quake was caused by the sudden rupture of a previously undocumented blind thrust fault. I think I mentioned his mother’s family had settled in California before California became a state. Mexico City was still the political, geographical, and cultural center of the country. Then I took Gavin through some of these neighborhoods. Canadian Operation Name: (Mexico 1985) Canadian Operation Dates: 1985/09/19 – 1985/09/26. Oct. 8, 2020. Many worked most of the first 72 hours straight, either in the Embassy or outside. Of a population of 18 million, an estimated 10,000 people were killed, and 50,000 were injured. The city has ...read more, From the stone cities of the Maya to the might of the Aztecs, from its conquest by Spain to its rise as a modern nation, Mexico boasts a rich history and cultural heritage spanning more than 10,000 years. I took the stairs down to the lobby, and went across the street to the Sheraton Hotel. By the second day I think it could take airplanes because the runways were indeed not damaged. Yes, it was not the Soviet Union. …The only untoward thing was the earthquake. At around 7:19 a.m. on September 19, 1985, Mexico City, one of the world’s largest urban areas, was jolted by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake, one of the strongest to ever hit the area. So the DCM/ Charge officially appointed me. Sally Grooms Cowal Any aid that we gave would be only a symbolic gesture, a drop in the bucket. One of the first things that he did, he was very concerned and he was very interested and he wanted to make sure that appropriate assistance came from the United States. The day after the earthquake I was called at the NSC and asked how do you think the Mexicans would react to the First Lady coming to Mexico? Q: How many Americans were killed, do you know? That was my view. But then they reached the sandy loam of the lake bed underneath the center of Mexico City. Doug Watson suggested that I call everyone together at about 11 o’clock in the big, Embassy central patio. That quickly spread from earthquake-related things to environmentally related things, the fact that Mexico City was such a polluted city. More than 80,000 people perished as a result of the quake, while an estimated 4 million ...read more, On April 18, 1906, an earthquake and subsequent fires devastated San Francisco, California, leaving more than 3,000 people dead and destroying more than 28,000 buildings. Major quake of 7 4 magnitude hits mexico so susceptible to earthquakes 1985 mexico city earthquake 2017 central mexico earthquake mexico earthquake kills hundreds Mexico Earthquake Strongest In A Century Kills Dozens The New York TimesHere S What We Know About Mexico Earthquake Abc News Australian Broadcasting CorporationMexico S Strongest Earthquake … We weren’t even sure they would be able to be sent the first couple of days. I went back inside the Embassy and upstairs to my fourth floor office after the twenty minutes like I had planned. She is not going to be able to put back a building or dig out civilians or something like that. 2017 Puebla earthquake; Images for kids It was the worst earthquake to hit Taiwan–where quakes are common due to its location in a seismically active ...read more, At 4:31 a.m. on January 17, 1994, a 6.7-magnitude quake struck the San Fernando Valley, a densely populated area of Los Angeles located 20 miles northwest of the city’s downtown. The powerful earthquake killed more than 10,000 and left another 30,000 others injured and as many as a quarter of a million people homeless. He immediately jumped to the conclusion that those were buildings that were probably built not to the standards which were in print, but not always observed, of how buildings ought to be built in a seismic zone. The 1985 Mexico City earthquake: an excerpt from “Shooter” ... They’d built a lot of the new buildings in Mexico City, with the elevator in the center of the building to form a steel core like the rods in reinforced concrete. The aftershock was almost as strong as the original quake and may have done even more damage outside of the city than the original shock had done. Most of them came in to the Embassy to work. More than 10,000 people died as a result of the quake, some 30,000 others were injured and an estimated 250,000 people were left homeless. On September 21, 1999, an earthquake in Taiwan killed more than 2,400 people, destroyed or damaged thousands of buildings and left an estimated 100,000 people homeless. I said that the last thing in the world the Mexicans need is the First Lady coming to Mexico right now. Its economic boom, known as the Mexican Miracle, encouraged heavy migration, and few politicians were eager to stem the flow of incoming labour with strict building cod… AID sent many of them because it was in charge of our disaster relief at that time. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government or of ADST. Mexico's president was Miguel de la Madrid, champion of a failed "moral renewal" campaign, and the city's mayor was Ramón Aguirre Velázquez, a man close to the president and a candidate to succeed him. He sometimes felt that you had to talk tough to Mexicans…. Elliot Abrams went from the State Department, I went from the NSC, Jim Rosebush was then Nancy Reagan’s Chief of Staff and Elaine Crispin was the First Lady’s press secretary. Of course, he wasn’t there that first night, and was reporting the disaster based on pictures from a few neighborhoods. This detailed timeline of Mexican history explores such themes as the ...read more, A country rich in history, tradition and culture, Mexico is made up of 31 states and one federal district. Robert S. Pastorino The building shook like hell. PASTORINO: Between the governments it probably didn’t. The most vivid memories of that night were of the Mexican people digging frantically in the piles of rubble, with no lights, no electricity, and no help from the government. Mexico City Earthquake, 1985. One is that 20,000 people had died, because he counted the number of buildings times what he assumed was the occupancy of each building, and it was clear that most people in those buildings would not survive. Learn how to update your browser. The Mexican government, thinking that it could handle the situation after the earthquake by themselves, initially refused any foreign aid. On the other position. I didn’t think that was very strange. What could possibly be achieved by the First Lady’s going to Mexico except inconveniencing the Mexicans at a time of national disorder and stress and grieving and all the rest of it and getting some photo-ops for Nancy Reagan? Even my own sister and aged father in San Francisco weren’t sure of our condition for two days. What you like fries and coke determine their prices. It was growing in population at a tremendous rate, and the economy was booming. Responses from the Mexican community and foreign governments came swiftly. They would sometimes report his criticisms, but you would sort of lose the train of it before you got done. The Administrative Counselor, Doug Watson, a tremendous help and calming influence, came in at 9:00 a.m. and we had to decide what to do. Nonetheless, I mean, it came across to the Mexican people that he was someone who was not their friend. His Spanish was impeccable. So you’d look on a block and three buildings would be standing, and two buildings, like collapsed teeth, would be down between the three standing buildings. It made it extremely difficult to read these stories or they would turn the story around. The president was saying that they had lost 10,000 people, and Gavin made a public statement that there were 20,000 or more who had died. Find a certified presentation designer for your next project on Prezi Of course, the U.S. television networks were telling the U.S. about the situation, and as usual it was vastly overblown, probably unnecessarily scaring Americans with friends or relatives in Mexico City. Considerable damage and injuries were reported in other parts of the Umbria region. I told the State Department Operations Center that I was speaking on behalf of the Chargé and that the American staff was fine. I liaised with the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance[in USAID] and we got a check cut for a million dollars. COWAL: Well, they would sometimes mention it, and that would cause problems, or they wouldn’t mention it, and that would cause problems, of course, with the embassy. I think however, once he came down, although he did have some difficulties later on, he did impress a good deal of Mexican society with his superb knowledge of Spanish. I remember many stories about heroism during those next few days. Problems were compounded because the Government disaster relief office was destroyed and several of the largest hospitals collapsed during the first day, including the Juarez General Hospital where I went with the Ambassador three days later while they were still rescuing survivors, although each hour the number of corpses rose and survivors dropped. That one wiped out much of the remaining communications and then collapsed many buildings that had been severely damaged the day before. I asked them to please alert all of our families that we were okay, because phone communications from Mexico City would be problematic. She was surrounded by this mob of people. Again, groups began to form to do something about the pollution or to speak about what was happening to the city, and I think all of that great foment in civil society is what led to a reform in the political system in Mexico. Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid declared a period of mourning starting from September 20. Location: Mexico. I told the Mexican employees they could return home, if they thought it was necessary. Mexico’s president, Miguel de la Madrid (1934-2012), was criticized for his government’s weak response to the disaster. From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The 1985 Mexico City Earthquake was an earthquake that happened in Mexico City on September 19, 1985. I remember the back wall of my secretary’s apartment just fell out into the back yard. Gavin felt that sometimes you had to deal publicly with them…. But the Mexican people recognized how much the Americans helped by sending assistance and helping in the reconstruction. Within the next couple hours, we made sure the local Mexican staff was ok. A DEA official and a Foreign Service Officer happened to be downtown in a hotel for a breakfast meeting when the quake struck. 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