Mexico and Puerto Rico repeat fatalities five years later: an earthquake and a hurricane leave their communities emotionally devastated

Mexico and Puerto Rico repeat fatalities five years later: an earthquake and a hurricane leave their communities emotionally devastated Mexico and Puerto Rico were people, they would probably hug each other to comfort each other in the midst of the scare of the tragedy, since both communities suffered this week a reminder of the threat of nature, in a scenario lived five years ago also by these dates.

The first, Mexico, was shaken this Monday by a strong earthquake that shook the earth under the feet of its inhabitants, recalling the fatality of other September 19 when deadly earthquakes were recorded that have marked its history.

In the subsequent case, that of Puerto Rico, a storm that made landfall this Monday as a classification 1 tornado, is decimating everything in its way, has left weighty rains and floods and the overall casualty of the awfulness of Typhoon María, in 2017, from which many scarcely recuperate. The Dominican Republic, likewise in the Caribbean, is likewise managing the lethal outcomes of Fiona, which on Tuesday turned into a Classification 3 storm .

Although to date the magnitudes of both the earthquake in Mexico and the hurricane in the Caribbean are not comparable in terms of deaths, losses and material damage, both events leave a prevailing feeling of loss in the air that many can barely explain.

This is how the events of the past and this Monday are compared.

Mexico, a trilogy of earthquakes shakes the country on September 19

What happened in Mexico seems like the chronicle of an earthquake foretold. But it wasn’t.

This September 19, after large number of Mexicans partook in a tremor counteraction drill, the earth shook: it shuddered so emphatically that the seismic ready that had sounded recently was set off this time with an unequivocal advance notice: “It’s anything but a drill, enact your conventions,” cautioned the Secretariat of Far reaching Chance Administration of Mexico City.

It happened at the time the drill was scheduled for the National Civil Protection Day, which includes a mega-earthquake drill to improve society’s preparation for an event of these characteristics.

The confused faces of many soon turned into disbelief , since September 19 represents a fateful date for Mexicans: this same day, in different years, two devastating earthquakes occurred that have claimed thousands of lives in the past . That of 1985, of magnitude 8.1, left about 10,000 dead; and in 2017, of magnitude 7.1, almost 400 people died and left 250,000 more displaced, with painful images that still weigh on the memory of Mexicans.

What to think of this?

“It’s a coincidence, ” Víctor Espíndola, of the Mexican Seismological Service, told CNN about the occurrence of three earthquakes on the same date and at a similar time. And it is even more so if one takes into account that Mexico is in an area of ​​high seismicity .

Truth be told, said Espíndola, this September 7 there was likewise a tremor. It was similar date as quite a while back, on September 7, when a 8.1 extent tremor happened off the bank of Acapulco.

“That is still a coincidence,” he insists and adds that although it is very low, there is a probability that phenomena like these will happen.

Mexico and Puerto Rico repeat fatalities five years later: an earthquake and a hurricane leave their communities emotionally devastated So far the damage is not at all comparable to that of past earthquakes. So far there has been one death of a man in the state of Colima who died due to circumstances related to the tremor, while another person was injured in Michoacán. And in Colima there was structural damage to homes and failures in the electrical service.

Meanwhile, strong aftershocks continue until the earth settles again and earthquake experts compare this occurrence to winning the lottery: “There is, although the probability is very low, that it will happen again,” said Espíndola.

“It’s like a person who can win the lottery two or three times, even consecutively. So, what could you call that?” he asks . And he reiterates that earthquakes cannot be predicted.

Puerto Rico, devastated by hurricanes

Exactly five years have passed since Maria, a powerful and devastating category 4 hurricane, made landfall in Puerto Rico, the first of such magnitude to impact the island in 85 years .

Presently, another typhoon, less strong, however maybe similarly as perilous, has shown up on the island: Storm Fiona made landfall on Monday in Puerto Rico, carrying serious rains and floods to the island, avalanches and an absence of power, in a reverberation that recollect the awfulness of 2017, when Maria caused, somewhere in the range of 2017 and 2018, very nearly 3,000 passings and billions of dollars in harm. Once more a significant number of these individuals who experienced Maria are presently battling with the blows of Fiona’s tail, which is compelling them to begin without any preparation.

“It’s devastation after devastation,” Carmen Yulín Cruz , the former mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, who dealt with the effects of Hurricane Maria , told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer .

Mexico and Puerto Rico repeat fatalities five years later: an earthquake and a hurricane leave their communities emotionally devastated At this moment, a huge number of individuals are uninformed after Fiona. Be that as it may, the scene isn’t just lived in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, Fiona doesn’t stop: this Tuesday it fortified into a classification 3 storm with winds of 185 kilometers each hour and whirlwinds to 210 kilometers each hour and is supposed to go through the Turks and Caicos Islands.