Three brief earthquakes shook Mexico City late Tuesday morning causing residents to quickly evacuate buildings, though no seismic alarm sounded.
Over the course of three minutes, three “micro-quakes” occurred with epicenters in the city’s southwest borough of Álvaro Obregón, beginning at 11:06 a.m. local time. The first quake registered a magnitude of 2.8, followed one minute later by a 3.0-magnitude quake at 11:07, and a third with a magnitude of 2.4 at 11:08.
“An earthquake has been detected in Mexico City; at this moment we are establishing communications with the risk management and civil protection units of the boroughs. Information coming soon,” Myriam Urzua Venegas, Mexico City’s Integral Risk Management and Civil Protection minister, posted on X (formerly Twitter) at 11:09 a.m.
While residents waited for further information, social media was flooded with memes connecting the seismic activity with the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which draws millions of faithful to the capital every year on Dec. 12.
Tuesday’s “micro-quakes” are the second (third and fourth) earthquakes to be felt in Mexico City in less than a week. On Thursday, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck the area of Chiautla de Tapia, Puebla, triggering the seismic alert system in the Valley of Mexico.
Upon confirming that the quakes originated within city limits, Mexico City’s Center of Control, Command, Communication, Computer and Quality (C5) posted a short video on X explaining that when earthquake epicenters are located within a close range of the capital, the seismic alarm is not triggered.
“In the case of earthquakes that occur inside the Valley of Mexico, it is impossible to establish an opportune warning,” Juan Manuel García Ortegón, head of the C5, says in the video.
At the time of publication, no material damages had been reported following the earthquakes in the capital.
With reports from El Universal
