Historic 8.2 earthquake that hit Mexico was felt in Mérida and Yucatán

A number of tourists were evacuated from the Mérida Hyatt Hotel in order to prevent any incident…

MERIDA — The National Seismic System has reported that on Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 11:49 p.m, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.2 in the Richter scale, hit Mexico. The epicenter was located in the state of Chiapas, near the couunity of Pijijiapan. The tremor was felt almost throughout the whole country.

The origin of the incident was at 137 kilometers southwest of Tonala, Chiapas, in Pijijialpan, where the epicenter was located at latitude 14.95 ° and longitude -94.27 °, at a depth of 19 kilometers. It was largely felt across the country, from Central to Southeast Mexico, and in addition the Secretary of the Navy issued a tsunami alert in the preventive phase for the Pacific Coast near Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Because the earthquake was felt in Merida, tourists staying at the Hyatt Hotel were evacuated in order to prevent any incidents. The unprecedented earthquake in the capital of Yucatan caused many tourists to stay a few minutes outside the hotel.

It is believed that many of the buildings in Mérida are not designed to withstand earthquakes, as Yucatan has never been considered an earthquake zone. The earthquake also was felt other places in the Yucatan Peninsula, such as Campeche and Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo.

After the earthquake of 8.2 degrees, other aftershocks of 5.8, 5.7 and 6.1 degrees were recorded in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Mexico City.

So far there haven’t been any major incidents reported due to this earthquake in Mérida, but all the way from Valladolid to Progreso, the people of Yucatán experienced the effects firsthand of this Temblor. The Yucatecan authorities haven’t given any official report about this unusual event.

Sources:

• sipse.com/milenio
• yucatanahora.com
• yucatan.com.mx