Quake Hits Near Mexico City

M E X I C O   C I T Y, Aug. 9, 2000 -- A strong earthquake centered under thePacific Ocean shook western and central Mexico early today,cracking walls, breaking windows and sending people racing into thestreets.

Mexico’s National Seismological Service put the magnitude at7.0, but the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo. said it was a6.4-magnitude tembler. The quake was centered about 240 mileswest-southwest of Mexico City in the Pacific Ocean, and about 30miles west of the coastal city of Lazaro Cardenas.

A civil defense official, Jesus Alonso Mondragon, said at leastone person was hurt when parts of a wall collapsed at a hotel underrepair in Lazaro Cardenas, the closest sizable city to theepicenter. Mondragon said the “strong” quake sent people runninginto the streets as buildings shook, but he said early reportsindicated only minor damage.

Damage Was Minor“There were only broken windows and cracks in some walls,” hesaid by telephone.

Power was briefly knocked out to part of the city. Theearthquake also cut power in Mexico City’s Colonia Guerreroneighborhood, according to Televisa network.

A magnitude-6 quake can cause severe damage if it is centeredunder a populated area. Magnitude 7 indicates a major earthquakecapable of widespread, heavy damage. Since the start of 1990,Mexico’s National Seismological Service has recorded 38 earthquakesof magnitude 6 or greater.

Mexico’s worst killer quakes hit its Pacific coast, wherecontinental plates clash. Among those was the 8.1-magnitude 1985quake that killed thousands in Mexico City.

Mexico City’s construction in a valley on an old lake bed tendsto amplify distant quakes. The 1985 quake occurred 200 miles away,but set the soil beneath Mexico City shifting like sand. Towns onsolid ground closer to the epicenter suffered far less damage.