Geofísica Internacional special volume on the 30th anniversary of the 19 september 1985 earthquake

Abstract

The morning of 19 September 1985, Mexico City awakened to strong and prolonged shaking of the ground. The origin of the motion was an earthquake located approximately 350 km to the southwest of the city, in the subduction zone along the Pacific coast of Mexico. When the oscillations of the basin subsided, after an anomalously long period of approximately four minutes of strong shaking, the central part of the city showed damage which was unprecedented, unforeseen and, at the time, incomprehensible.