Mexican authorities were able to react to the alarm triggered after an earthquake measuring 7.8 Degrees on the Ritcher scale shook the country.

In 1957, the so-called "Angel Earthquake" shook Mexico with an intensity of 7.9, the epicenter was very close to Acapulco. More than 700 people died in the capital, almost 3,000 were injured, thousands of buildings were left in ruins, and the emblematic Winged Victory on the Paseo de la Independencia collapsed. At that time, seismic zones were beginning to study the phenomenon of interactions between the ground, the building, the structure, the foundation, the period of the waves, etc. A building, the Torre Latinoamericana, had just been inaugurated, its structure was made of steel. The support on long piles became dynamically flexible, it did not suffer a scratch, it received the award from the American Institute of Steel Construction: it was the tallest building ever built that had withstood such acceleration and seismic force. It is still considered one of the safest high-rise buildings in the world. Cathedral, National Palace and other buildings from the colonial era with strong stone walls also withstood the shaking train well.

In 1985, the so-called Mexico City earthquake was particularly hard hit, lasting more than two minutes and with a magnitude of 8.1, far exceeding the "Angel Earthquake". This time the epicenter was located in Michacan, near the mouth of the Balsas River, the special configuration of the basin of the capital Mexico City as a sounding board, produced an echo effect with the seismic waves; these were dedicated to travel the subsoil of the capital, in all directions, bouncing off the walls again and again, making the minutes endless. There were aftershocks that reached 7.5. More than 10,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of injured have swelled the list of victims of these natural phenomena in our contemporary cities. More than 4,000 people were rescued alive from the rubble. The Latin American Tower, the Cathedral, the National Palace and other buildings of the colonial era stood firm again.

Yesterday, a 7.8 scale earthquake with epicenter in the state of Guerrero shook the country and Mexico City again, but yesterday there were no deaths, a few injuries, material damage and two remarkable aftershocks of 5.0 and 5.3. Thousands of people in the capital after reacting as they learned since they were children, took to the streets very scared, the lessons had been learned but very well. Almost 30 years after the 1985 earthquake, the city has shown itself to be much more prepared and resilient. Yesterday Mexico gave a lesson to the world. Not only have its buildings been optimized to withstand the shock of such seismic force, but the reactions after the first moments of panic worked. People, educated since childhood, generally behaved as they should in these cases, not running away until the movement was over, getting under beams, on the lintels of doors, etc. However, what most dazzled the world in 1957, 1985 and yesterday, was the submission, capacity of solidarity and selflessness of its citizens.

Today we know many more things about earthquakes and their mechanisms, we know that earthquake-resistant construction standards are constantly improving, but they have not been, are not and will never be enough to avoid misfortunes, victims and ruins. Mexico has actively collaborated with the international community by elaborating exemplary prevention plans, excellent programs of study on the distribution of the territory according to the subject of expected risks, especially seismic risks, a considerable improvement of the construction systems and a pedagogy of the seismic culture that saves lives. Three pending subjects in Spain, we saw in Lorca how the non-structural elements killed, the current rules and regulations did not even contemplate them, our distribution of the territory does not take into account the Spanish seismic reality, only Aragon and some Catalan city councils compare this information when urbanizing; and the seismic culture of the population is better not to talk about. Youtube is full of images of supermarkets, streets, pharmacies of Lorca where we can see people leaving in panic, even some of the victims under fallen cornices. By the way, the Torre Latinoamericana, the Cathedral, the National Palace and other buildings of the colonial era are still standing.