On the other hand, on one of the first days, I called a Congressman in Los Angeles and asked him not to send a plane load of supplies, because they were not things that were needed. I asked them to please alert all of our families that we were okay, because phone communications from Mexico City would be problematic. Oct. 8, 2020. Blog. Economic and Political Counselor. Partly because of inadequate building codes, the … We coordinated with the embassy. Ambassador Gavin had to go to de La Madrid on some issues in order that we could help effectively. That one wiped out much of the remaining communications and then collapsed many buildings that had been severely damaged the day before. Mexico City earthquake of 1985, also called Michoacán earthquake of 1985, severe earthquake that occurred on September 19, 1985, off the coast of the Mexican state of Michoacán, causing widespread death and injuries and catastrophic damage in Mexico’s capital, Mexico City. John Gavin’s nomination by the President caused consternation and some disdain in the Mexican press and the public because he was identified as an actor. 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. The Secret Service had great difficulty with the Mexican authorities maintaining any kind of crowd control around her. Maybe that was because I had been through many earthquakes before, including one just as serious. Problems became serious I think, for Gavin, in 1985, after the great earthquake in Mexico City, at a time that I was already in Ottawa. Mexico City earthquake of 1985. On September 19, 1985, at 7:17 A.M., a Richter magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred on the Pacific coast of Mexico. We got on an Air Force I airplane. At that time, all the lines went dead. In addition, 250,000 people lost their homes, and … It was still peaceful. Gavin felt that sometimes you had to deal publicly with them…. Mexico City is on a plateau surrounded by mountains and volcanoes. September 19, 2008 (The earthquake of 19-Sep-1985) One of the worst natural disasters in the Americas occurred 23 years ago today, when at 7:19 am local time an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 struck in the subduction zone off the west coast of Mexico. 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. Q: How many Americans were killed, do you know? It did more damage to some of the Embassy’s residences, fortunately, not mine. I told them we would need them in the Embassy, but their personal considerations were clearly more important…. Some of them came from homes that were damaged. 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. 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…. What was especially needed was machinery to cut through the concrete reinforcing rods, oxygen, the sniffer dogs to search for survivors, tents, heavy machinery to move some of the rubble, lighting systems, and communications gear. It is the country’s economic and cultural hub, as well as home to the offices of the federal government. 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… Minister Counselor for Public Affairs in Mexico City from 1985 to 1989. National Security Council’s Staff Director for Latin America from 1985 to 1986. During this second period of mine in Mexico, 1985-1986, Mexico City was still peaceful. Location: Mexico. I cannot believe that the government actually impeded the rescue efforts that brave civilians had begun. 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. He sometimes felt that you had to talk tough to Mexicans…. They had left me in charge of the Mission but Washington didn’t know that. I also remember some cases where overwork and exhaustion caused Embassy people to almost crack. Financially, we had already offered the Mexicans a variety of technical assistance from sniffer dogs to special jacks and engineering gear to try to rescue people from collapsed buildings. As far as we knew, no staff person’s home or structure collapsed and no staff person was hurt badly. 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. These two guys heard screams and dove in to the flooded basement waters of the severely damaged hotel trying to save drowning hotel guests. His Spanish was impeccable. We got on the plane and flew to California. Between Mexico City and the epicenter 250 miles to the southwest lie the Sierra Madre mountains dotted with remote towns. 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? Any aid that we gave would be only a symbolic gesture, a drop in the bucket. The digging went on amid continuing screams from within the fallen buildings. The result: The earthquake was amplified in strength. It shook for thirty or forty seconds. The oil boom was on. I think I mentioned his mother’s family had settled in California before California became a state. The earlier quake left behind a … A DEA official and a Foreign Service Officer happened to be downtown in a hotel for a breakfast meeting when the quake struck. The ...read more, On October 8, 2005, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook the Kashmir region (a disputed territory controlled in part by Pakistan and India), along with sections of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. The first implosions were the biggest event of the week. He and Connie Gavin did a tremendous amount of fund-raising and charity work then and later in helping the victims…. There was a very large earthquake in September of 1985. Ambassador Gavin was on his way to Europe on vacation and Deputy Chief of Mission [DCM] Morris Busby was in Northern Mexico on fisheries negotiations. The 1985 Mexico City Earthquake. It had a magnitudeof 8.1, and the number of people killed added up to 10,000 deaths. So a lot of what we did in USIS, we would also sponsor seminars for journalists and so on. 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. https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/1985-mexico-city-earthquake. MEXICO CITY -- Many things changed after the devastating September 19, 1985 earthquake, measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale, struck Mexico City. On Sept. 19, 1985, an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale struck Mexico City. But early that morning, some lines were still open. That was my view. The government’s response to the tragedy was unthinkable. By the second day I think it could take airplanes because the runways were indeed not damaged. They also strengthened one corner of the building. 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. I remember the back wall of my secretary’s apartment just fell out into the back yard. Tips to keep in mind for World Mental Health Day; Oct. 5, 2020. First Lady Nancy Reagan toured Mexico City with U.S. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. As Mexico City is situated on an ancient lakebed plateau composed of mostly dirt and sand, the ground is less stable than bedrock, thus leading to major damage. The phone system failed almost completely shortly thereafter. We hurried through the calling because we knew the phone system in Mexico City was progressively failing as the central exchanges were literally falling down. Mexicans spooked by earthquake on anniversary of 1985 quake Mexico: Earthquake rocked Mexico City on Tuesday by a magnitude 7.1 quake which killed at least 100 people in the capital and 230 nationwide, 32 years to the day after another deadly temblor hit the city. Posted in Mexico City as a Minister Counselor for Public Affairs from 1985 to 1989, Ambassador Sally Grooms Cowal gives insight into some controversies surrounding Ambassador Gavin during her interview with Charles Stuart Kennedy beginning August 2001. COWAL:  I think the most controversial thing that he [Ambassador Gavin] did, at least in my time there, happened just before I arrived. I really got my appreciation for the damage at 11 o’clock that night. 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 … The number of Mexicans who perished is still controversial and probably will never be known for certain. 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. The Mexican government, thinking that it could handle the situation after the earthquake by themselves, initially refused any foreign aid. I let it shake (what else could I do?) But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! And we began to prepare cables about the situation. I told the State Department Operations Center that I was speaking on behalf of the Chargé and that the American staff was fine. Heavy machinery, medical supplies, and excavation equipment descended into the city to help with rescue efforts. Quakes, most of them minor, and none as strong as the one in 1985, remained a constant feature of life in Mexico City. Even my own sister and aged father in San Francisco weren’t sure of our condition for two days. Otherwise I think it would have been much greater, because a lot of people were still out of the city or in small buildings and so on, not in these huge office towers. I went onto the roof and I could see buildings collapsed within two or three blocks. Research a process analysis for errors in causal analysis is however the magnitude and type of strategy is required. Nonetheless, I mean, it came across to the Mexican people that he was someone who was not their friend. They weren’t evidently hostile but something could have happened to her in such a large crowd. As you know, Mexico City airport is very close to the downtown, and thus very close to much of the damage. Nancy Reagan’s trip was I think her first foray into a foreign policy role. Considerable damage and injuries were reported in other parts of the Umbria region. I was quickly told that this was probably going to happen so it’s not a question of whether it is desirable or not, it is a question of making it happen. Canadian Operation Name: (Mexico 1985) Canadian Operation Dates: 1985/09/19 – 1985/09/26. The foreign media would always cover these things, and then report it, and then sometimes the Mexican media would be able to report on what the foreign media had presented. They were digging with their hands, or small shovels, but with no heavy equipment, by the light of automobile headlights. The building shook like hell. Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid declared a period of mourning starting from September 20. ©Copyright 1998-2021 Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training 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. Stanley Zuckerman was a Counselor for Public Affairs for Mexico City from 1978 to 1983; he was interviewed by Kennedy beginning July 2004. and when it stopped I decided to leave the building, have a cup of coffee for twenty minutes, and then go back to work. But then I began to see the destruction from the windows and we began to get reports that parts of the city had been seriously damaged, with many major buildings downed. I remember Dan Rather telling the world that Mexico City was completely destroyed. Kramer, a. So, it may be that people to people relations were actually improved…, Ambassador G. Philip Hughes 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. Then I went back to the airport at 3 a.m. to meet Ambassador Gavin. 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. The Marine guards of course were there. Most of the damage was focused on the historic downtown area of Cuauhtémoc. On the other position. There were American guests at this hotel and one of the officials actually pulled out bodies. Western Mexico is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes with the Pacific plate and Cocos plate moving against the North American plate actively. You could see the appreciation of the families of these children as they went to the airport to welcome their children back…. What you like fries and coke determine their prices. 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. 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? 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. On September 19, 1985, the Mexico City area was struck by a devastating earthquake that killed at least 9,500 people. 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 was growing in population at a tremendous rate, and the economy was booming. His mother was born in Mexico, in Sonora. Almost always no smoke, no dust, and every brick falls right where it’s supposed to. But the greatest credit goes to the thousands of Mexicans that dug those first few days, saving hundreds of people. Every minute, people came into my office to ask about a myriad of subjects, both personal and professional. The 1985 Mexico City Earthquake was an earthquake that happened in Mexico City on September 19, 1985. More than 400 buildings collapsed and thousands more were damaged. So they would have everything on the front page with about three lines of type, and then every story would continue in a different part of the paper. That second night I was in the Embassy until 1 or 2 in the morning. The control tower operation was down so the airport was closed. I liaised with the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance[in USAID] and we got a check cut for a million dollars. A lot of people were saved that night by the digging, survivors being dug out minute by minute. Assistance was just not flowing and not flowing fast enough, and people were without electricity and they were without water and they were without homes, and they began for the first time to organize themselves, in neighborhood groups and community groups, to do something about this. Find a certified presentation designer for your next project on Prezi 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. The earthquake lasted around three minutes causing older buildings and poorly constructed infrastructure to fall. I had been officially appointed by the DCM when he left, to be in charge. 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. The event was televised nationwide and in those parts of Mexico City which had electricity. That was maybe for the first time really since the Aztecs, a questioning of the central authority and of the power structure, by individuals and by groups of nongovernmental organizations, civil society, that really began to emerge. Many worked most of the first 72 hours straight, either in the Embassy or outside. 1985-09-19 13:17:47 UTC 8.0 magnitude, 27 km depth Arteaga, Michoacán, Mexico 8.0 magnitude earthquake 1985-09-19 13:17:47 UTC at 13:17 September 19, 1985 UTC And neither one of these figures probably counted Mexican-Americans or Mexicans that have family in the States. ZUCKERMAN:  It was again a period when a chargé ran the Embassy, and John Ferch had gone on to Cuba as head of our mission there and later became our Ambassador in Honduras, and there was a rather long gap before John Gavin, Reagan’s appointee as Ambassador, was confirmed and arrived on the job. Within a few more hours I learned that this was probably going to happen so we turned to and set up the visit. We probably had 25,000 resident Americans and many, many American tourists. We landed in Mexico and went through this program which involved going to Los Pinos, giving the check, having a little talk with de la Madrid, and going around touring a number of sites. We convinced him not to; another small task accomplished. With more than 16 million residents, the city had been growing at a ludicrous rate – over 4% annually through the 1970s, with a growth rate of close to 40% in the city’s periphery. Excélsior would probably have 30 stories on the front page. 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. Some of these buildings were ready to fall down and they were dangerous. I was amazed. She didn’t mingle with people in the way the Bushes did typically on their airplane. The quake was caused by the sudden rupture of a previously undocumented blind thrust fault. But for the most part, American government officials acted with great courage. The earthquake was located about 110 kilometers northeast of Rome. We had dozens of calls and cables coming in from the Consulates, from all over Mexico. If she wanted to go to sleep it would have been in view of the elements. Later, the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico City, led by John Bruton, collected large sums of money and rebuilt schools. Americans are very generous and they immediately began to collect and provide goods to load up airplanes. It was still run totally by the PRI. (You can also read Ambassador Prudence Bushnell’s experience with “disaster tourists” after the Embassy Nairobi bombing. We had to give the Mayor of Mexico City a video presentation of how the implosions were done in the U.S. I went to the airport to meet the Chargé d’Affaires, Morris Busby, who was returning from Northern Mexico. We all flew to Mexico in this nearly empty plane spending a lot of hours in the air. He may have been right, but being right was not necessarily the objective of diplomacy. Earthquake shakes Mexico City On September 19, 1985, a powerful earthquake strikes Mexico City and leaves 10,000 people dead, 30,000 injured and thousands more homeless. You had one sentence. That continued for five years. 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. By comparison, Denver, Colorado, nicknamed the Mile High City, is 5,280 feet above sea level. It turned out later that one of his close friends, Placido Domingo, lost some of his family in a collapse of a twenty-five story building. And even when Presidential orders were given, they were sometimes not followed, or could not be followed. 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. What the aftershock did was make many people really panic. Sally Grooms Cowal The quake ruptured the San Andreas fault to the north and south of the city, for a total of 296 miles, and ...read more, On October 17, 1989, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area, killing 67 people and causing more than $5 billion in damages. As Mexico City is situated on an ancient lakebed plateau … Mexico certainly did not plan for earthquakes…. In fact, some of the neighborhoods close to it were badly damaged. Finally, after some trying, some genius in our Communications section patched me through to Washington through Louisiana, and Atlanta. I am sure the implosions, which were successful, saved many lives. In response, citizens organized their own rescue brigades. We had to worry about the American School, the American Hospital, and other American institutions. I went back inside the Embassy and upstairs to my fourth floor office after the twenty minutes like I had planned. At first, the president rejected offers of international aid and played down the damage caused by the quake. It was just awfully difficult to try to read it. There was also not much of a line between editorial opinion of the newspaper and the reporting on the news. He got a helicopter and he flew over and counted the number of buildings down, and many of them were apartment buildings. PASTORINO: Mexico was then ending the Lopez-Portillo Administration, and entering into the six year term (sexenio) of Miguel De La Madrid. The water system was destroyed in much of the city. But I was more at ease because Ambassador Gavin and Busby were both back. 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. We weren’t even sure they would be able to be sent the first couple of days. This is the address to send it to. HUGHES:  During the brief period that I was on the NSC staff in connection with Mexico, my main activities were planning a trip that Nancy Reagan made to Mexico and accompanying her to give a symbolic donation of a million dollars to the victims of the September 1985 Mexico City earthquake and dealing with a presidential phone call between de la Madrid and Ronald Reagan. 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. It was the only time no one paid much attention to the American Ambassador. Mexico City is located at an elevation of more than 7,300 feet above sea level. So the DCM/ Charge officially appointed me. ), Stanley Zuckerman  That quickly spread from earthquake-related things to environmentally related things, the fact that Mexico City was such a polluted city. To this day, the Mexicans say it was less than 20,000. Responses from the Mexican community and foreign governments came swiftly. (The disaster exposed the fact that government corruption had allowed for lax enforcement of building codes.) It was very interesting, and Gavin was not without his role in all of that. On the morning of September 19, 1985, an 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit the western states of Mexico and including Mexico City. Its epicenter was about 55 km (34 mi) south of the city of Puebla.The earthquake caused damage in the Mexican states of Puebla and Morelos and in the Greater Mexico City area, including the collapse of … We had to take care of them. The death toll, a number which is disputed, is most often cited to be 10,000 people, but many agree that the number could be as high as 40,000. Of course, he wasn’t there that first night, and was reporting the disaster based on pictures from a few neighborhoods. I took the stairs down to the lobby, and went across the street to the Sheraton Hotel. Even if it had not been destroyed, it didn’t have much equipment and expertise. 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. Of a population of 18 million, an estimated 10,000 people were killed, and 50,000 were injured. The earthquake resulted in around $3 billion to $4 billion in damage. It was pandemonium. 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? It was 30 years ago today that at least 5,000 people — some estimates put the number at closer to 10,000, others at four times that — died in the powerful Mexico City earthquake of 1985. Most of Alaska’s mainland felt the magnitude 9.2 earthquake, which wobbled Seattle’s Space Needle some 1,200 miles ...read more, Mexico City, Mexico’s largest city and the most populous metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere, is also known as Distrito Federal, or the federal district. "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. In 1985, Mexico City was the world’s largest urban area. 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. It was appropriate to speak publicly about issues relating to our interests, but dangerous to tell Mexicans how to manage their own affairs, at least in public. The deaths were so numerous that they had to use the baseball stadium as an outdoor morgue. As the National Security Council’s Staff Director for Latin America from 1985 to 1986, Ambassador G. Philip Hughes was involved in planning First Lady Nancy Reagan’s visit to Mexico City, which he questioned as being ill-timed; he was interviewed by Kennedy beginning August 1997. It has known security flaws and may not display all features of this and other websites. People were all over the First Lady. As for me, I was frequently told that I remained fairly calm the whole time. 2017 Puebla earthquake; Images for kids Did you know? So I don’t know exactly, but we had 25,000 officially registered. Soup kitchens were set up by the people to keep the diggers working. The airport runways were thought to be damaged on the first day. I think that on the second day shipments were already beginning to come in from the States. Mexico City Earthquake, 1985. It was something she very much wanted to do. 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. So I was in the Embassy the next night at 6 or 7 o’clock when the major aftershock came. A lot of countries don’t plan for earthquakes. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Much attention to the offices of the rubble, but we did in USIS, would... Embassy and she gave a speech some cases where overwork and exhaustion caused Embassy people remember event! 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