CityLab: A Brigade of Architects and Engineers Rushed to Assess Earthquake Damage in Mexico City

I reported for CityLab on the volunteer architects and engineers who are assessing thousands of buildings damaged in Tuesday’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake.

“On Tuesday, September 19, Mexico City’s architectural cultural center, in the Condesa neighborhood, was confirming the final reservations for an inauguration that evening of a new exhibit: ‘Mexico City: 1985 Earthquake.’

The exhibit at La Casa del Arquitecto, the House of the Architect, marked the 32nd anniversary of Mexico’s most devastating earthquake in the past century.

Then, at 1:14 p.m., everything began to sway.

It was a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on the border of the nearby states of Morelos and Puebla. The quake rocked Mexico City in the middle of the workday, and across the metro area, people poured into the streets, panicked.

La Casa del Arquitecto called off the event commemorating the earthquake that decimated the city exactly 32 years before, and went into crisis mode.”

The full report is here on CityLab and en español con CityLab Latino.