The Earth just decided to remind all of us again that Y2k will not occur in a vacuum. Sorry, no details yet via CNN.

Mike ==================================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), June 15, 1999

Answers

"Very strong earthquake felt in Mexico City"

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/Reuters19990615_2025.html

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), June 15, 1999.

MEXICO CITY  A strong earthquake, registering 6.7 on the Richter scale, was felt in midafternoon in Mexico City Tuesday, lasting at least 30 seconds, witnesses said.

A Fox News reporter said her building in the city was swaying and the Earth was rolling like a wave. She said there was bedlam in the streets, as there is anytime an earthquake hits because of the devastation wrought by a massive earthquake there in the mid-1980s.

Residents of the Polanco neighborhood in the southeast of the capital said windows shattered but there were no immediate reports of serious damage. In the nearby Lomas de Chapultepec area of town, usually fairly safe from earthquakes because it is built on solid rock, the Reuters office building swayed.

The quake occurred at 3:41 p.m. (4:41 p.m. EDT), according to the National Seismological Service.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), June 15, 1999.

Map: http://sismo1.ssn.unam.mx/

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), June 15, 1999.

Comets, quakes, and the news reported this AM that the recent tidal change for a 24 hour period, broke all previous records. The average tidal change for this part of the country, NW, is about 4-5 feet. That is the difference between high and low tides in elevation, changes due to lunar effects on ocean bodies. These changes occur throughout the year, and are used by many ie; fishermen, and clam diggers, to judge the optimun time to *hunt*, low tide = good clam digging, while high tide = good fishing. The difference between high and low tides yesterday reached 20', and is unusual for this time of year. ???What's going on???

This ain't Alaska!!

-- michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), June 15, 1999.

Stro ng earthquake shakes central Mexico

Rescue workers remove debris from demolished buildings in downtown Puebla on Tuesday
At least 15 dead, hundreds reported injured

June 16, 1999, Web posted at: 2:04 a.m. EDT (0604 GMT)

PUEBLA, Mexico (CNN) -- A powerful earthquake shook central Mexico on Tuesday, leveling concrete apartment buildings, cutting power and telephone service and sending thousands of panic-stricken residents fleeing into the streets.

Civil defense officials said at least 15 people were killed in the 6.7-magnitude quake. The first reports of significant damage came from Puebla, a city of 1.2 million about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Mexico City.

Emergency crews were sifting through piles of twisted concrete that once were apartment buildings several stories high in downtown Puebla. Nearby residents watched through broken windows.

Local television broadcast scenes of rescue workers picking through chest-high concrete in a colonial-era church. The 300-year-old city hall, a major hospital, a highway bridge and some houses also suffered major damage.

TV Azteca said 200 people were injured and that 12 people were still pinned beneath the rubble.

The quake was centered near Tehuacan, about 135 miles (217 km) southeast of Mexico City, according to the National Earthquake Center, which monitors earthquake activity worldwide.

A Puebla resident weeps after viewing her demolished apartment It was "felt very, very strongly," said Hector Gonzalez, civil defense director of Huajuapan de Leon, a city near the epicenter. He said it knocked out electricity and telephone service, but he had no reports of injuries or major damage.

In Mexico City, frightened residents dashed out into the streets when the quake struck at about 3:41 p.m. (2041 GMT), causing buildings to sway. Many stood outside for more than an hour, waiting to hear if it was safe to go back inside.

News helicopters hovering above the city recorded no visible signs of damage to buildings. Telephone service and power were disrupted in some areas.

President Ernesto Zedillo cut short a planned trip to the Caribbean coast and said he would fly to Puebla state to assess the damage. Mexican officials declared a state of emergency.

Mexico's largest recent earthquake, on September 19, 1985, was recorded at magnitude 8.1 and killed at least 9,500 people.

Robert Meli, director of the National Center for Disaster Prevention, told TV Azteca that the current quake, which lasted about 40 seconds, was "between five and 10 times smaller than the one in 1985."

------------------------------------

Troops Patrol Quake Zone

[ snip ... ]
SOME RECENT MEXICAN EARTHQUAKES:

* April 6, 1999: A quake that measured 4.1 on the Richter scale hit along the Mexico-California border. No damage or injuries were reported.

* Feb. 5 and 7, 1998: A pair of earthquakes measuring 6.4 and 4.5, respectively, hit the coast of the eastern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Several aftershocks were reported, but no major damage was reported.

* May 22, 1997: An earthquake that measured 6.5 struck Mexico's Pacific Coast, damaging houses and churches in small coastline towns.

* Oct. 10, 1995: More than 60 people died when an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 hit Mexico's Pacific Coast. At least 90 people were reported injured in the quake, which was felt as far away as Dallas.

* March 31, 1993: A quake measuring 5.1 rattled Mexico City but caused no damage or injuries.

* June 18, 1988: An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale hit northwestern Mexico. No injuries or damage were reported.

* Sept. 19, 1985 : An early-morning earthquake devastated Mexico City, leaving more than 6,000 dead. The quake, which measured 8.1 on the Richter scale and shook buildings for close to three minutes, was followed 36 hours later by a second earthquake with magnitude 7.5.

* March 14, 1979: A quake measuring 7.0 and centered near Acapulco left several dead and more than 30 injured.

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Yes, shift happens. Be prepared for any type of emergency.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 16, 1999.

This ain't Alaska!!

-- michael (mikeymac

michael, where is it/you? From 4-5' to 20' difference? If this happened in Miami FL we would be sunk!

-- J (jart5@bellsouth.net), June 16, 1999.