One year on, Mexico City residents still picking up the pieces from quake

Record ID: 1356844

  • Title: One year on, Mexico City residents still picking up the pieces from quake
  • Date: 18th September 2018
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 06, 2018) (REUTERS) BUILDINGS IN APARTMENT COMPLEX WHERE ONE BUILDING COLLAPSED DURING LAST YEAR'S EARTHQUAKE KILLING NINE PEOPLE EARTHQUAKE DAMAGED APARTMENT BUILDING TEMPORARY HOMES AND TENTS IN THE GARDENS OF APARTMENT COMPLEX THAT WAS DAMAGED IN LAST YEAR'S EARTHQUAKE SINK AMONG TEMPORARY HOUSING MEXICO CITY RESIDENT LIVING IN TEMPORARY HOUSING AFTER HIS APARTMENT WAS DAMAGED IN LAST YEAR'S EARTHQUAKE, IGNACIO ANTONIO MELO MELO IN TEMPORARY HOUSE VARIOUS, MELO SPEAKING AND EATING CLOSE SHOT, MELO HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICO CITY RESIDENT LIVING IN TEMPORARY HOUSING AFTER HIS APARTMENT WAS DAMAGED IN LAST YEAR'S EARTHQUAKE, IGNACIO ANTONIO MELO, SAYING: "It's almost a year since this (apartment building) collapsed, it's only a few days away from being a year. And what have we done? Nothing. The exterior walls are up, nothing else. They only made holes for the sidewalks because with the apartments, with the buildings, they have done absolutely nothing." APARTMENT BUILDING INTERIOR VARIOUS, MEN CARRYING BELONGINGS OUT OF BUILDING MEXICO CITY RESIDENT, MARIA GUADALUPE PADILLA, CLIMBING STAIRS IN HER APARTMENT BUILDING PADILLA ENTERS HER APARTMENT WHICH WAS DAMAGED DURING LAST YEAR'S EARTHQUAKE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICO CITY RESIDENT, MARIA GUADALUPE PADILLA, SAYING: "Now they only gave a few days for them to get their things. It was sad seeing how people threw out their furniture, their clothes, their things because they didn't have anywhere to take them, and that, for me, is an insult because it's not having consideration for people, after what they're going through, not considering other people." PEOPLE WORKING ON DAMAGED APARTMENT MAN CLEARING RUBBLE IN WHEELBARROW VARIOUS, PEOPLE WORKING ON DAMAGED APARTMENT BUILDING MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 11, 2018) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF EVENT WHERE A REPORT (TITLE: "WHY DID MY BUILDING FALL?) WAS RELEASED DOCUMENTING THE HISTORY AND STATE OF BUILDINGS DAMAGED IN LAST YEAR'S EARTHQUAKE REPORT CO-AUTHOR, SALVADOR CAMARENA, SPEAKING ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CO-AUTHOR OF 'WHY DID MY BUILDING FALL' REPORT, SALVADOR CAMARENA, SAYING: "Government workers were negligent in the face of the use of false documents or faced with information that what was previously constructed did not match with what had been authorized. In this city, the authorities sign and grant permission without reviewing plans or soil studies. And, even when they review them, cases occur where these government workers do not have the minimal professional knowledge to provide a correct evaluation." VARIOUS, EXHIBITION ACCOMPANYING RELEASE OF THE 'WHY DID MY BUILDING FALL?' REPORT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SON AND BROTHER OF TWO VICTIMS OF LAST YEAR'S EARTHQUAKE WHO DIED IN A FACTORY COLLAPSE, FERNANDO SANCHEZ LIRA, SAYING: "A year later, new information keeps coming out of negligence, abandonment, impunity, evidence against the authorities, against the (building) owners, which completely incriminates them." GENERAL VIEW, TENT ON SIDEWALK OUTSIDE A LAUNDROMAT THAT COLLAPSED IN THE EARTHQUAKE LAUNDROMAT OWNER, ENRIQUE ALCANTAR, RECEIVES CLOTHING FROM CLIENT VARIOUS, ALCANTAR IRONING CLOTHING GENERAL VIEW, ALCANTAR IRONING INSIDE TENT WHERE HE HAS TEMPORARILY SET UP HIS BUSINESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) OWNER OF LAUNDROMAT THAT COLLAPSED IN LAST YEAR'S EARTHQUAKE, ENRIQUE ALCANTAR, SAYING: "(I'm) suffering from the inclement weather and everything. All of us here have been through much suffering, we keep giving it our best shot, trying to get ahead. And, well, the most you can do is to not lose faith that some day we're going to have to come out of this and forget these very difficult moments that we've been through."
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2018 19:47
  • Keywords: Mexico earthquake natural disaster recovery efforts structural damage
  • Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Earthquakes/Volcanoes/Tsunami
  • Reuters ID: LVA0018Y5N7SZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A year after a deadly earthquake struck Mexico City on September 19, 2017, some Mexico City residents are still struggling to move into permanent housing and reassemble their lives.
    One year ago, a 7.1-magnitude quake rocked the Mexican capital and its surrounding areas. At least 369 people died, causing more devastation in the capital since the 1985 disaster that killed thousands. Some houses were simply flattened by the shuddering tectonic shift which the government and the private sector estimated caused billions of dollars of damage.
    Clean up work is still being done on damaged buildings and people continue to live in makeshift wooden shacks and tents set up at the foot of condemned buildings.
    Sitting in a temporary home set up in the garden of the apartment building where he used to live, 64 year-old Ignacio Antonio Melo said, "it's almost a year since this (apartment building) collapsed, it's only a few days away from being a year. And what have we done? Nothing. The exterior walls are up, nothing else. They only made holes for the sidewalks because with the apartments, with the buildings, they have done absolutely nothing."
    The Mexican government initially offered aid to families displaced by the quake, but the sheer scale of the disaster means it will be a long road ahead for those left homeless.
    More than 160,000 quake victims claimed government assistance for damaged homes, and some 20,000 schools reported damage to buildings from the quake, according to officials speaking six months after the quake.
    Others are seeking to understand how such damage occurred. Speaking at the unveiling of a report detailing buildings damaged in the quake, Salvador Camarena said, "government workers were negligent in the face of the use of false documents or faced with information that what was previously constructed did not match with what had been authorized. In this city, the authorities sign and grant permission without reviewing plans or soil studies. And, even when they review them, cases occur where these government workers do not have the minimal professional knowledge to provide a correct evaluation."
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