Some Survivors of Mexico’s Quakes Wonder When They Can Go Home Colin Dwyer - NPR.org
go to original September 28, 2017

Relatives of people who are presumed still buried beneath the rubble await news of rescue efforts in Mexico City (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)

Update: Marginalised Minorities and Homeless Especially Hard-hit by Mexico’s Quake (Inter Press Service)

In the eight days since a massive earthquake leveled dozens of buildings across central Mexico, rescue workers and volunteers have scrambled through debris in a desperate search for any signs of survivors. And those efforts, which drew support from at least 43 different countries, were not in vain: Some 70 people were pulled alive from the rubble of their broken buildings.



Still, the magnitude 7.1 temblor claimed the lives of at least 337 people — and hopes have dimmed to a glimmer for those who remain missing.

"I can say that at this time it would be unlikely to find someone alive," Luis Felipe Puente, the national coordinator for civil protection, told Reuters on Tuesday. And the news service reports just one more day remains before official rescue operations end.

For many of the survivors, though, the difficulties — and difficult questions — are only just beginning.



Thousands of people emerged from the chaos to find they couldn't go home. Between last Tuesday's quake and another massive temblor that hit southern Mexico on Sept. 7, The New York Times reports that across the country at least 155,000 homes have been damaged — more than 27,000 of which were destroyed and 19,700 damaged to the point of being uninhabitable.

In Mexico City alone, where some 40 buildings collapsed entirely, Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera tweeted Monday that more than 1,800 of the damaged buildings inspected by officials could not be verified as safe.

All of which has left displaced residents feeling helpless, in sight of their still-standing homes but utterly unable to return.

Read the rest at NPR.org

Related: Hope Evaporating, a Grim Wait for Relatives After Mexico Quake (Reuters)

Related: Mexico Govt. Narrows Search for Quake Survivors Amid Backlash (OAN)

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