There's been a major earthquake in Mexico City, 32 years to the day after the 1985 quake. I didn't experience the 1985 earthquake, but I moved to Mexico City in January, 1986, and the city was still full of rubble and broken buildings at that time. I experienced a major delayed aftershock during my first months there, which was a bit scary.
Now, I read through the news and see buildings with addresses that could very well be places I visited during my time living there. I'm not well in touch with anyone from that period of my life, but I hope they are OK. The Delegación Benito Juárez ("delegación" is like a borough in NYC or a 구 [gu] in Seoul) was apparently particularly hard-hit. My recollection is that that same delegación was also hard-hit in the 1985 event – I think it's related to the underlying geology combined with the age of the neighborhoods – the buildings are in the majority low-rise (5-10 story) apartment buildings built during the city's rapid growth in the 1930's-1950's. They're old, poorly built, crowded, and not well-maintained. Benito Juárez is working class.
When I lived in Mexico City, I used to take the subway to random subway stations throughout the city and then walk home (often 5-10 km distance). I'm sure I've walked many parts of Benito Juárez – the subway station names are intimately familiar to me, especially along line 3 (olive green): Etiopía, División del Norte, Coyoacán…
For nostalgia's sake, here's a rather bad picture of me in the garden at Leon Trotsky's house (now a museum), which happens to be right on the southern boundary of Delagación Benito Juárez. I visited there with my dad in 2007. Maybe that rickety brick tower fell down?
I very much love Mexico City. In many respects, it remains my favorite city in the world. So I feel very sad.
[daily log: walking, 7km]