Nature: Mexico City hit by Magnitude 5.9 quake

[tucsoncoyote]

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BE78DE266%2DB8B3%2D4B54%2DB6AE%2DD775935BFF5F%7D&dist=newsfinder&siteid=google

Ah Earthquakes. what a nice little surprise to get hit by one

and in Mexico City's case, a nice Strong Quake (Initially rated at 5.9 on the Richter Scale) hit today causing most high rises to sway

Initially there have been 125 injuries and no deaths or major structual damage..

but this reminds me of the last time Mexico City got hit.. and that time was a full blown Magnitude 8.1 quake.. back then people died when High rises collapsed..(Why did they collapse? the answer is simple.. it's because Earthquake codes are not in full play like they are in California.

So how would anyone deal with a quake of any size.. For Example Anchorage Alaska was hit back in 1964 they were struck with a Magnitude 9.2 quake. in 1989 we had Loma Prieta (which really gave San Francisco a nice 7.1) in 1994 we had Northdridge in Southern California with a 6.5 quake..
and of course we had 18 months ago the 9.2 in Sumatra.. with accompaning Tsunami that killed well over 300,000 victims

The point is this: Some American Cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and even San Diego are all or at least somewhat "Quake resistant.. but there are other areas in the world (Even in the US) that get quakes..(I bet no one here has ever heard about the New Madrid (Missouri) events of 1811-1812, where 3 quakes of 7.0 or greater hit there.. imagine what it would be like if it happened now and along that same zone.. Cities like St. Louis and Memphis Tennessee would have some major damage on their hands.

but quakes are forces of nature that can't be detected or warned like Hurricanes or Tornadoes.. They strike without warning.. or very little warning.

so what do you think should be done in a case like Mexico City? Shoud they take precautions much like the West Coast cities of the US or Japan do? Or should they take the chance that a quake of any size will hit and will they be prepared to face the effects of such a shaker?

Please discuss.

[One Radical Dude]

As far as Mexico City goes, they've been there, done that many times. I do think that they need to do a better job to be ready for the next big one that could effect them in the future. You're right about the other locations, including Memphis, St. Louis, and even in some areas further from the New Madrid area, like Little Rock, Nashville, or even Chicago. I say this, because it has been said that the New Madrid can effect more people geographically than those in the West Coast. Never say that it can't happen here.

[sun]

I heard about it..read about it..It changed the course of the Missisippi River..
It was felt for 1000 miles or more..I think they felt it as far away as Montreal
Quebec
..No one knows what it was..perhaps, 8 or 8.5. maybe 9????
..Right, after shocks for a year or more...
..,In the late 70s or early 80s there was a 4.0 in Chicago...I lived there then, and it awoke me from a sleep,,,the room shook..It is something you do not forget...
..Most people do not now that a 7 is 100 times more powerfull than a 6. and so on..So the 9.2 in Sumatra, and the accompanying Tsunami, was l000 times more powerful than the 1989 quake in San Francisco.which was a 7.2

..I recall vaguely, one in China which approached 9...8.5 or 8. 6...in the late 60s, due to political events, the thing was kept totally quiet, and only after the extent of the disaster became clear, did the government ask for help. Loose estimates were 800,000 dead...? No one knows because the government then was far more secretive, than it is now..
...The earth will tell us we are not omnipotent from time to time..
...If we prepare, we can survive...after the California quake in 89 near San Franciso, they improved the codes even more..and even doubled all tolls on the bridges and reinforced them again,...anticipating even further "events"
..Perhaps we can learn from California....L.A. has strong codes..The Northridge Quake near L.A. in 94. killed 60-70.
..A quake somewhat stronger, probably a 7.0 in the early 80s..in Mexico City killed 4000...Their codes were very poor..
...A little known fact is that a 7.0 quake in the old Soviet Union..in 83??maybe a year or two ealier..killed over 27,000..Gorbachav, a high level official then, who saw how ineffective the rescue effort was (and how poorly constructed the buildings were,) later decided that the system of government itself was not worth saving..It was one of the underlying factors for the disolving of the old Soviet Union..
...If we are unprepared, we will suffer more than you can possibly know..If we ignore the esistence of possibilities, we surely will be sorry..for ignorance is no excuse for what can happen if the information is there to know..Katrina has given us all a warning....Sadly,,,Nature will always prevail if we fail to take heed..For Nature and the Earth do not care who you are, or where you are, or what you are....You are just in the way..