Life for many has moved outdoors in the quake-shocked city of Juchitan, where a third of the homes are reported uninhabitable and repeated aftershocks have scared people away from many structures still standing. The city is littered with rubble from magnitude 8.1 earthquake that struck Thursday night September 7 and which killed at least 90 people across southern Mexico — at least three dozen of them in Juchitan itself. The earthquake is described as the earthquake of a century and was felt by 50 million people. Officials in Oaxaca and Chiapas states said thousands of houses and hundreds of schools had been damaged or destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people were reported to be without water service. Many people continued to sleep outside, fearful of more collapses, as strong aftershocks continued to rattle the town, including a magnitude 5.2 jolt early Sunday. The general hospital has settled into a temporary home at a school gymnasium, with gurneys parked atop the basketball court.
“There is no one who can say: ‘Nothing happened to me because of my money, because of my strength or my youth or my prestige or my fame nothing happened,’” Bishop Campos said during an open air Mass. “We are all weak.”
Local officials said they had counted nearly 800 aftershocks of all sizes since the big quake, and the U.S. Geological Survey counted nearly 60 with a magnitude of 4.5 or greater. Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat said Sunday that the death toll in his state had risen to 71, while officials have reported 19 killed in Chiapas and Tabasco states. Mexico’s education secretary, Aurelio Nuno, announced that schools will remain closed Monday in Oaxaca and Chiapas.
Juchitan’s downtown streets grew increasingly congested Sunday as dump trucks and heavy equipment hauled away debris and pushed smaller piles of debris into larger mountains of rubble. Teams of soldiers and federal police with shovels and sledgehammers fanned out across neighborhoods to help demolish damaged buildings. Volunteers, many teens from religious or community groups in surrounding towns that were not as severely hit, turned out in force to distribute water and clothing or lend a hand. In Union Hidalgo, a town of about 20,000 people about 30 minutes to the east collapsed homes pocked neighborhoods, and the town lacked electricity, water and cell phone service. The quake’s epicenter was in the Pacific Ocean, some 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) southeast of Mexico’s capital and 74 miles (120 kilometers) off the coast. A tsunami was confirmed in Mexico, with one wave coming in at 5.8 feet (1.75 meter), according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Tsunami warnings were issued as far away as New Zealand and Vanuatu. President Enrique Peña Nieto said Mexico’s army, marines and federal police had been mobilized to respond. The quake struck as the effects of Hurricane Katia were starting to be felt in eastern Mexico.
Eduardo Mendoza, general manager of Direct Relief Mexico, that hurricane Katia could complicate relief efforts and contribute to water-borne illnesses. Large trucks were having a difficult time reaching affected areas, he said, so individuals were bringing in supplies in their personal cars. “What they really need right now are basic medical supplies for wound care and other trauma care,” Mendoza said.
Christ forewarned His disciples of the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs to take place prior to the coming of the Son of man. The whole of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew is a prophecy concerning the events to precede this event, and the destruction of Jerusalem is used to typify the last great destruction of the world by fire. Christ upon the Mount of Olives rehearsed the fearful judgments that were to precede His second coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: … Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows”. While these prophecies received a partial fulfillment at the destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application in the last days.
Matthew 24:6-8,Testimonies for the Church 5:753
Source References
Death toll now at 90 as aftershocks rattle Mexico
Mexico earthquake: Rescue efforts continue as death toll rises