Mexican National Seismological Service Website: http://www.ssn.unam.mx/website/jsp/ultimos.jsp
Today, a 5.7 on the Richter Scale earthquake shook Puebla and Mexico City about mid-afternoon. It’s duration was 15 seconds, pretty long in earthquake life. Since it only happened a few hours ago (as of this writing) word isn’t in yet about whether there is damage or injury. The news reports coming out are indicating that it was scary but no one was hurt. I’m keeping a pulse on this because Stephen and I are planning to spend a few days in Puebla mid-July. However, in looking at the charts (you can see this by clicking on the link above), many Mexican earthquakes are centered in Oaxaca! Yet, few are above 3 or 4 on the Richter Scale. That’s just a minor rumble, like going over a gravel road, in my book, the earth sighing and settling. But, it does point to the seismographic activity of the region and occasionally there are stronger quakes that can do some damage. That’s why building foundations in our little village are dug with deep trenches and filled with boulders and concrete. I grew up in California and lived in San Francisco for a few years — earthquake city. Nevertheless, it is unnerving to think that all along the fault line, from Northern California to South American, there will continue to be shaking for millenia to come. Hopefully, the big one will come before or after me.
6:23 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time: Manuel Cordoba writes on www.NowPublic.com that the earthquake was centered in the famed Popocatepetl volcano, whose boundaries are shared by three states, Puebla, Guerrero and Morelos.
6:28 p.m. Reuters and Bloomberg.com report that the USGS has upgraded the earthquake to 6.0 and phone lines are reported out in the central historic district of Mexico City.
