European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 22, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday. September 22, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 3 Rescue efforts Start in devastated Mexico City workers evacuate one of the in Mexico City after thursday morning s Cente Rescue workers pass a Jug of water ers search through a collapsed building i Boe left from rubble in downtown earthquake. At demolished hotel above As they look for victims. Red Cross work above right for More victims. Thousands dead in Mexico City quake continued from Page i their Homes into the Street when the second tremor Shook the City for about two minutes. Lights went out in Many sections of the capital and according to radio reports the smell of Gas again was present in tie hard hit Roma neighbourhood. In the luxury Presidente Chapel Cepic hotel dozens of guests fled their rooms running out into the lobby. Radio reports said the cafe Havana a popular Busi Nessman s restaurant in the Central City had collapsed. It was believed empty at the time. Less than 10 minutes ago i was sitting in my hotel room and it began to shake said a photographer David Breslauer from Queretaro 125 Miles Northwest of the capital. The chandelier began to Ham radio operator Dave Downing in Wausau wis. Laid he heard a station in Veracruz about 300 Miles cast of Mexico City report the new quake and then go off the air possibly indicating the quake covered an area larger than the Mexico City Region. Frank Kemper a Ham operator in la Jolla calif., was monitoring a radio conversation Between los Angeles and Mexico City when he heard the Ham operator in Mexico say of no it s another one. It s a big then he went off the Friday stunned mexicans counted the dead and searched for the living struggling to recover from a giant earthquake that turned the capital into a dust shrouded City 0? terror and tragedy. "1 would not dare give a number said a grim laced mayor Ramon were even sketcher from the surrounding Countryside where unofficial accounts spoke of hundreds killed in areas closer to the epicentre of the first quake which reached a powerful 7.8 on the Richter scale. Late thursday Aguirre said at least 1,000 people were buried in scores of collapsed buildings in Mexico City and hour by hour on Friday bodies were pulled from the rub ble. Five thousand people were treated for injuries the mayor said. Sirens echoed non Stop through the capital s downtown streets. Fires flickered and soldered in the ruins of destroyed buildings pouring smoke into the dust raised by thursday s upheaval. Crying children wandered through the streets calling for their parents. Tens of thousands of emergency volunteers using picks heavy construction equipment or Bare hands clawed through the rubble in search of survivors occasionally with Success. One Young briton was lifted from the ruins of a downtown hotel after being buried 26 hours in the debris. The people of Mexico City have shown great Solidarity Aguirre said. Smaller aftershocks continued to rumble through the City Friday each one a new terror. It s shaking. It s shaking a Little. Don t be scared a to news announcer calmly advised viewers in the Middle of one tremor. City residents like Teresa Mendoza recounted thurs Day s frightening few minutes with horror. After the quake it was absolutely dark from the dust and the smoke Mendoza told a reporter at a Relief Cen Ter. Everybody was crying men women and children. They were saying it s the end of the world everybody was on his Knees pathetic scenes were everywhere. I have been looking for my son since 9 o clock yester Day morning a sobbing Mother old a television reporter. His name is Alfonso Rodriguez. Please please help me find him offers of Aid poured in from around the world including from the United states but the . Embassy said there was no immediate mexican response. The quake casualties apparently included at least two americans. Embassy spokesman Vince Hovanec said the two were guests at a hotel that was severely damaged. There is the probability that they May be dead he said. He did not immediately release their identities. Embassy officials were out in the City s streets and Mak ing checks at tourist hotels looking for americans in need of Aid. The earthquake entered on the Pacific coast about 250 Miles Southwest of Mexico City struck at 7 18 . Thurs Day in the 7,800-foot-High capital a sprawling conglomeration whose 18 million people make it the world s most populous Urban area according to . Figures. The Long heaving movement of the Earth brought Down hotels hospitals schools and churches. The City emergency Relief Council said 250 buildings were destroyed and 1.000 to 2,000 others were heavily damaged or on the verge of collapsing. The disaster also struck the nearby states of Colima Guerrero Jalisco and Michoacan. Between 110 and 150 people were killed and 1,500 were injured in Jalisco said a fire lieutenant there Juan Manuel Sanchez. Mexican television said 25 worshippers were killed in the Jalisco City of Guzman when a Cathedral collapsed. In Michoacan 30 people were reported killed when two hotels collapsed at the Beach resort of Playa Azul. Mexico City newspapers citing no official sources Esti mated the eventual death toll at 3.000 in the capital and 300 in the provinces. Communications officials said at least 60 percent of the nation s 167 major Telephone exchanges were damaged. Water supplies to the perennially water Short capital were expected to be irregular for several Days. Half of Mexico City was blacked out late thursday but Power was being gradually restored Friday. Airports were reported operating normally. Three Large areas of the capital were hardest hit the historic downtown area around the vast zocolo Square he East Side state Loco District and a Southern District around the National medical Center. Tall buildings became heaps of masonry their collapsed floors stacked like pancakes. Others tilted crazily. Streets throughout the City were littered with broken Glass and plaster. Crushed automobiles sat at curbside and hundreds of others had tires punctured by the debris
