Haiti Disaster Evokes Memories of 1985 Mexico Earthquake
It is the worst earthquake in the Western Hemisphere since the devastating 1985 temblor in Mexico City, and many survivors of that disaster must be experiencing terrible flashbacks as they follow news coverage of the tragic scenes in Haiti.
The Mexico City temblor was the most recent major Western Hemispheric quake that compares to the devastation being witnessed today in impoverished Haiti. The horrors in Haiti have definitely revived memories for a reporter who covered the Mexico's mega-disaster. I spent days chronicling the aftermath of the devastation.
One word echoes in my mind: "silencio."
Rescuers digging through the rubble with their bare hands constantly pleaded for total silence as they listened for sounds of life. The urgent plea was most dramatic at the site of a major hospital that was flattened when the earth shook.
(at left: Wreckage of a twenty-one-story steel-constructed building in the Pina Suarez Apartment Complex in Mexico City, September 19, 1985)
Today, similar scenes are playing out in Haiti. While there have been vast improvements in communications technology and rescue skills since the Mexico disaster, many of the same challenges remain.
As U.S. Agency for International Development chief Rajiv Shah said, saving lives in the first 72 hours following a disaster "is critical." There are always stories of people surviving under the remnants of buildings for many days, but they are the miraculous exceptions. It took days for specialized heavy equipment to arrive at the Mexican disaster sites. It could be an even longer wait in Haiti where roads were in terrible shape even before disaster struck.
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More than 25 years later, Mexican authorities still don't know how many people died in the disaster -- although it has been estimated that 10,000 perished when the 8.1 Richter scale quake struck. An estimated 50,000 people were injured. Tens of thousands remained homeless for months.
(at left: Survivors walk past the rubble of collapsed buildings in Haiti on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010.)
The country will have to rely almost entirely on international help to recover from the disaster. Mexico's experience offers some lessons but it is difficult to predict how they will apply to Haiti, a country that was already viewed as a disaster.
Since 1985, Mexico has reinforced many buildings. Strict structural codes are in effect for new construction. Enacting those types of changes will be a daunting task for Haiti where politics has always been complicated and contentious. Haiti, one of the least developed countries in the world, is also viewed as one of the most corrupt nations. Making sure all of the international aid gets to the right place will be an additional major challenge.
More Coverage:
Massive Quake Devastates Haiti's Capital
Red Cross: 3M Haitians Affected by Quake
Nations, Aid Groups Ramp Up to Help Haiti
U.S. Haitians Desperate to Contact Kin
Haiti Quake: An Eyewitness Account
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