Reflecting on the double anniversary of the Mexico City earthquake...
Four years ago today I was in Mexico City, Mexico on my way home Medellin, Columbia. It was just really a quick day trip to sight-see in the city capital. I had been to Mexico several times before over the years as it was the second country I had ever visited. This time however would overshadow the other nine times I had been to the country.
I landed early that morning on Tuesday, September 19th 2017 and quickly had planned a full agenda. I posed for a quick pic in front of the CMX sign in the Benito Juarez International Airport then hopped into an Uber. The first stop was work related. I had a hand in opening up an international extension of the company I work for and I wanted to see the fruits of my labor. I put a considerable amount of time riding in the Uber looking for the exact address before finally finding it. I didn’t go inside but it was nice to see something I’d worked on in person. I didn’t want to really waste of lot of time on work related items anyway so I quickly hustled off to the city center.
I was dropped right in the middle of the city center which was a thriving metropolis with busy car traffic and foot traffic in every direction. There were businessmen and tourist like myself scurrying about from place to place. This was my first time in Mexico City and it was not what I expected. It could have been any downtown in the USA. I quickly started racking up the sights. The most notable was the walk along the Paseo de Reforma which runs diagonally right through the breastplate of Mexico City. Many of the city’s most well known skyscrapers line this street. So many famous monuments and statues also line this street and there are really too many to name. However I will talk about the Angel of Independence. This was the most prominent on the street as it was easily the tallest – a very high column with the resemblance of a winged figure like an angel atop. It was built to commemorate the centennial of Mexico’s independence in 1910. I snapped several selfies with this statue.
The Angel of Independence was the last thing I remember before heading back to the airport. My flight was leaving about 3:30PM and I wanted to make sure I had enough time to get back to the airport with traffic and get through security. On the way back to the airport I passed smaller office buildings which I would remember seeing later on the news. I made it to the airport about 2 o’clock which gave me plenty of time to get through the airport security. I walked leisurely through the airport in no rush.
Right about 2:30pm I was taking out my spare phone to record some video inside the airport when I saw a huge crowd of people start to run in my direction screaming. I huge wave of fear came over me and the muscles tensed in my lower back to the point of pain. I heard next what sounded like 2 large explosions then I saw another large crowd of people running in a different direction. It was pure chaos. The huge light fixtures in the airport were swinging violently and the building was shaking. Frantic people were running in all directions screaming. I honestly thought I was going to die. Surprisingly though I was very calm at the resolve that this could be the end.
It was only several days after the 6 year anniversary of September 11. Even though I was not on USA soil my first thought was that this was a terrorist attack at the airport. We were close enough to the USA and I thought somehow terrorists were behind the whole thing. I immediately reached for my back up phone to record and realized that I had lost in when the first crowd ran towards me and I panicked. I was left only with my main phone which was low on memory space. As I began to think this could be my last moments alive I wanted to make sure that footage survived. I started a Facebook Live stream to record the chaos unfolding at Benito Juarez International Airport. I thought even if the phone was lost the footage would auto post. I started the stream by saying my name and saying I believe the airport in Mexico City has just been hit in a terrorist attack. I described explosion sounds heard earlier and then just showed footage of what was happening in the airport. The whole ordeal lasted probably about 10 minutes and I was surprised that the whole building didn’t collapse. The building stopped shaking but people were still terrified and some still screaming.
Being that I am from the Midwest – I grew up in Chicago to be specific – I have never experienced an earthquake so I had no point of reference for what just happened. It was from reactions and comments on my Facebook Live stream that I learned it was not a terrorist attack but a massive earthquake. I was very relieved to learn that we were all safe from a terror attack but very concerned at the magnitude of the earthquake and potential aftershocks.
This earthquake measured a 7.3 and was felt hundreds of miles away. The airport was evacuated because of safety concerns with the structural integrity of the building. Everyone inside was now outside on the front lawn of the airport. There were emergency vehicles rushing to the airport. We stood outside for over 5 hours as we waited to find out what was happening. I recorded most of the 5 hours in the hot afternoon sun. There were thousands of people outside with no where to go. The city sent cooling busses with air conditioning and water for people to try to relax and calm down. All the hotels were quickly were overran and no rooms left once the airport announced that it would not be opening back up until the next day.
I began getting calls from news media including ABC, CNN, and NBC asking for permission to use my pictures and videos for their news coverage. I was even interviewed by ABC News Worldwide about my experience. As I learned the airport would remain shut down and that my flight was rescheduled for tomorrow morning instead I decided to find shelter for the night. I had a very good relationship with IHG Hotel Brands and found a Holiday Inn close to the airport. They were sold out but I was given the last emergency room they were holding and I was so grateful because every other hotel was booked solid.
As I sat in my hotel room watching news coverage I remember saying a little prayer and being thankful that I was not hurt or worse killed in the earthquake. As I watched the news, mostly CNN, I learned so much about the devastation that had spread around the city. The death toll continued to rise throughout the night and over the next 24 hours eventually reaching over 230 lives lost. There was lots of news coverage of people trapped in collapsed buildings. Some the buildings I saw on my drive back to the airport were damaged and one had collapsed. I thought wow as I was so close to some of those buildings and my heart went out to all the people impacted.
This earthquake was so unique as it occurred on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City that killed over 10,000 people. Experts say this earthquake saw much less loss of life due to changes in engineering for buildings and the fact that the time of the earthquake many were already outside. Many downtown buildings were participating in an earthquake emergency practice drill when the earthquake struck. As I reflect on my time in the city center I recalled seeing so many business folks just standing outside in suits and professional skirts. I thought it was odd that so many employees were just standing outside but thought it was normal for Mexico City around this time of day. I had no clue that that safety drill actually saved many of those folks lives because they were outside already and didn’t get caught in damaged or collapsed buildings.
I was also shocked while watching CNN News – there was footage showing things I had recorded earlier that day and seeing my name with picture credits was a little overwhelming. I had people from work reaching out to me on Facebook and text messages. I remember calling my boss and telling her that I was caught in the Mexico City earthquake but that I was okay. I eventually got to sleep that night around midnight so that I could catch my flight early the next morning. I did make it home safely the next day.
The next day I saw an online article on ABC News Worldwide where my experience was captured in an interview I had done the day before. I began getting calls from friends & family early Wednesday morning. All the phones calls started with something like “George I just saw you on TV in the Mexico earthquake news story! Are you okay?” I didn’t know that I had made it into stories across local affiliate news channels from New York to Detroit to Los Angeles. When I finally did get to the office I remember my boss and vice president saying “only George would get caught up in an earthquake in another country and end up on the news being interviewed.” We had a good laugh and it was a great way to take my mind off the devastation.
This was the big news story around the world for a few days and coverage quickly shifted to rescue efforts of so many trapped and hurt across the country. I felt a connection to this event and was glued to the TV for the next few days. My heart was heavy as I saw this devastation firsthand. I reflected back on my Facebook Live stream. I had so many hundreds of comments on my footage. People were telling me that they were so glad that I had been streaming on Facebook Live during the 6 hours from the start of the earthquake. Many people told me that that was the only way they new their family member was safe. Many weren’t able to call their families and friends to check on them but they said they could see them in parts of my local live coverage and they thanked me. I wanted to do so much more but there was nothing I could do. I found comfort in the fact that I was able to let worried family members know their loved ones were okay and not hurt or killed in the earthquake.
I am so glad that I was able to remain calm and my journalistic instinct kicked in. My major in college at U of I was broadcast journalism and even thought I thought it could very well be the end I just remained calm and just started recording. Sometimes it’s the small things that make a big difference. As I reflect back four years ago, I pray for the families who lost loved ones and hope the city has made a full recovery.
Link to ABC News Worldwide Story: http://abcnews.go.com/International/powerful-71-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-central-mexico/story?id=49958650