September 19th

On Thursday, September 19, 1985, Mexico experienced the strongest and deadliest earthquake in its history. The earthquake affected the central, southern, and western regions of the country, with the capital, Mexico City, being the hardest hit. The aftershock on Friday, September 20, 1985, had a significant impact on Mexico City as well. The epicenter of the earthquake was located in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of the state of Michoacán, near the port of Lázaro Cárdenas. The earthquake struck Mexico City at 7:19 in the morning with a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale. It was a combination of both trepidatory and oscillatory seismic motion and had a depth of 15.0 km. The rupture or fault that caused the earthquake was located in the so-called Michoacán Gap. It has been determined that the earthquake was caused by the subduction of the Cocos Plate beneath the North American Plate. One of the various estimates of the energy released in this event equated it to the power of 1114 atomic bombs, each with a yield of 20 kilotons.

Thirty-two years later, on September 19, 2017, another significant earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 struck. The damages resulted in a significant number of casualties and material losses in the capital city, as well as in Morelos, where the epicenter was located. On September 19, 2023, it has been decided to commemorate these tragic events with a nationwide simulation in which officials from across the country acted responsibly, demonstrating that Mexico remembers.