A Noise Like Thunder

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Dawn broke with clarity. Even the encircling, snow-topped Sierra Madre was etched sharply in the distance against an azure sky. This was unusual for Mexico City, which is normally shrouded in a brown smog generated by the exhausts of some 3 million cars. But in just four earthshaking minutes, starting at 7:18 a.m. last Thursday, the day's auspicious beginning turned into a nightmarish disaster--and the bright skies only illuminated the extent of the tragedy.

"The noise was like thunder," recalled Tito Garcia Mendez, 60, who was riding the city's sleek subway, one of the capital's brightest successes. "All the lights went out. People began screaming. I felt dizzy. I thought it was because I was hungry." Fernando Levaro, 21, a medical student, was driving to an early class. "My car began swinging from one side of the road to the other. I could see lampposts and buildings swaying. People began to run, but they didn't know where to go. It was terrible." Arturo Cholula, 40, was getting dressed for his day's duty as a navy ensign. "I started to fall, and my closet came toward me. I felt like a drunk."

A devastating earthquake had hit Mexico City. The quake's force, measured at 7.8 on the Richter scale, was the world's most severe since a tremor measuring 7.8 struck the coast of Chile last March. In four chaotic minutes, an estimated 250 buildings collapsed in downtown Mexico City; 50 more were later judged dangerously close to falling, and the condition of 1,000 others was regarded as unsafe.

At week's end at least 2,000 people were believed to have died, more than 5,000 were injured, and thousands were missing. As rescue workers, all too often digging into the rubble with hand tools, responded to faint cries for help and unearthed ever more bodies, the death toll rose hourly. U.S. Ambassador John Gavin, who flew over the devastation in a helicopter, predicted that some 10,000, perhaps even double that number, would eventually be found dead or trapped in the ruins. Said he: "It looked as if a giant foot had stepped on the buildings."

Even as the massive rescue effort was under way, the capital was struck another blow. Just 36 hours after the first temblor, a second quake, though not as powerful as the first, battered Mexico City. This tremor, lasting for at least a minute, toppled some already weakened buildings but caused few new injuries. Mainly, it made the rubble bounce and rekindled fear among the city's residents, thousands of whom had spent the night in parks and other open spaces. President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado took note of the "panic" provoked by the second shock, but assured Mexicans that "the damage was much less than the first." Earlier, in appealing for calm, he had told his countrymen that "we are living through a great tragedy that affects all Mexicans."