Dataset Identification:

Resource Abstract:
On September 19, 1985, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred off the Pacific coast of Mexico. The damage was concentrated in a 25 km2 area of Mexico City, 350 km from the epicenter. The underlying geology and geologic history of Mexico City contributed to this unusual concentration of damage at a distance from the epicenter. Of a population of 18 million, an estimated 10,000 people were killed, and 50,000 were injured. In addition, 250,000 people lost their homes and property damage amounted to $5 billion. This set of slides shows different types of damaged buildings and the major kinds of structural failure that occurred in this earthquake including collapse of top, middle and bottom floors and total building failure. The effect of the subsoils on the earthshaking and building damage are emphasized. Over 800 buildings crumbled, including hotels, hospitals, schools, and businesses. Communications between Mexico City and the outside world were interrupted for many days. Surrounding areas affected by the earthquake included the Mexican States of Jalisco, Guerrero, and Michoacan. Damage in the epicentral area wasrestricted to a few tourist resorts and industrial estates along the Mexico Pacific coast. A two-meter tsunami also caused some damage in this area. There are geologic reasons why Mexico and especially Mexico City are vulnerable to earthquake damage. Along the west coast of southern Mexico and Central America, the Cocos Plate dips beneath the North American Plate producing a very active seismic zone. Since the beginning of the Twentieth Century, 84 earthquakes of magnitude greater than 7.0 have occurred in this zone. The location of the 1985 earthquake's epicenter near the coast at the border between the states of Michoacan and Guerrero was not a surprise. Prior to the 1985 earthquake this area, located between two areas that had experienced recent earthquakes, was known as the "Michoacan Gap." The "gap" was filled in 1985 by the main shock and a severe aftershock (magnitude 7.5) that occurred two days later, on September 21. Mexico City lies in a broad basin formed approximately 30 million years ago by faulting of an uplifted plateau. Volcanic activity closed the basin and resulted in the formation of Lake Texcoco. The Aztecs chose an island in this lake as an easily defended location for their capitol. The expansion of Mexico City and the gradual draining of the lake left the world's largest population center located on unconsolidated lake-bed sediments. These soft sedimentary clay deposits amplified the seismic waves, or they liquefied, destroying the foundation of some buildings. Double resonance coupling between the earthquake waves, the subsoils, and the buildings caused intensity IX shaking in some areas, lasting up to three minutes. Earthquakes in 1957 and in 1979 also damaged Mexico City. However, neither of these earthquakes was quite as devastating as the 1985 earthquake. In the area of greatest damage in downtown Mexico City, some types of structures failed more frequently than others. In the highest damage category were buildings with six or more floors. Resonance frequencies of these buildings were similar to the resonance frequencies of the subsoil. Because of the unusual flexibility of Mexico City structures, upper floors swayed as much as one meter and frequently collapsed. Differential movements of adjacent buildings also resulted in damage. A flexible building often failed if it was held by adjacent, more rigid lower buildings. Damage or failure often occurred where two swaying buildings came in contact with each other. Corner buildings were also vulnerable to damage. Lessons learned from the patterns of earthquake damage need to be applied to prevent another disaster when an earthquake releases stress that is building in another area-along the Mexico coast between Acapulco and Zihuatanejo.
Citation
Title Earthquake Damage in Mexico City, Mexico, September 19, 1985
publication  Date   1994
Edition First
presentationForm
cited responsible party - publisher
organisation Name  DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
cited responsible party - originator
organisation Name  DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC > National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce (comp)
cited responsible party - publisher
organisation Name  National Geophysical Data Center
Contact information
Address
, Boulder, CO
Topic Category:  geoscientificInformation
Theme keywords (theme):
EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > Seismology > Earthquake Occurrences
EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > Tectonics > Faults
thesaurus name >
Title NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
Theme keywords (theme):
Disasters > Catastrophic phenomena > Earthquakes
Lithosphere > Seismic activity > Seismic activity
thesaurus name >
Title INFOTERRA Keyword Thesaurus
project Keywords
ICSU-WDS > International Council for Science - World Data System
thesaurus name >
Title Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Project Keywords
revision  Date   2016-12-12
publication  Date   1995-04-24
Edition 8.4.1
cited responsible party - publisher
organisation Name  NASA
position Name GCMD User Support Office
Contact information
Address
electronic Mail Addressgcmduso@gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov
Linkage for online resource
name GCMD Feedback Form
URL:http://gcmd.nasa.gov/MailComments/MailComments.jsf?rcpt=gcmduso
link function information
Description Have a Comment for the GCMD?
cited responsible party -
organisation Name
Contact information
Linkage for online resource
name GCMD's Science Keywords and Associated Directory Keywords
URL:http://gcmd.nasa.gov/learn/keyword_list.html
link function information
Description This page describes the NASA GCMD Keywords, how to reference those keywords and provides download instructions.
Location keywords:
North and Central Americal > Mexico > Mexico City
thesaurus name >
Title Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
dataCenter Keywords
DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC > National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
thesaurus name >
Title Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
revision  Date   2016-12-01
publication  Date   1995-04-24
Edition 8.4.1
cited responsible party - publisher
organisation Name  NASA
position Name GCMD User Support Office
Contact information
Address
electronic Mail Addressgcmduso@gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov
Linkage for online resource
name GCMD Feedback Form
URL:http://gcmd.nasa.gov/MailComments/MailComments.jsf?rcpt=gcmduso
link function information
Description Have a Comment for the GCMD?
cited responsible party -
organisation Name
Contact information
Linkage for online resource
name GCMD's Science Keywords and Associated Directory Keywords
URL:http://gcmd.nasa.gov/learn/keyword_list.html
link function information
Description This page describes the NASA GCMD Keywords, how to reference those keywords and provides download instructions.
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Realm > Geosphere
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Process > Geologic Processes
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Organization > GOVERNMENT AGENCIES-U.S. FEDERAL AGENCIES
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Feature > Hydrologic Feature
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Material > Environmental Material
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Feature > Geologic Feature
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Property > Measure
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Science Domain > Earth Science
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Material > Chemical
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Process > Ocean Process
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Feature > Marine Feature
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Resource Type > Software
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Feature > Environmental Feature
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) Corporate Names
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
Theme keywords (theme):
thesaurus name >
Title Feature > Physiographic Feature
publication  Date   2017-08-24
other Citation Details  Cinergi keyword enhanced.File generated at Thu Aug 24 07:00:40 UTC 2017
purpose:
Make available Damage Photos for research and education
Resource language:  eng; USA
Resource progress code:  completed
Resource Maintenance Information
maintenance or update frequency:  notPlanned
Constraints on resource usage:
Legal Constraints
Access Constraints  otherRestrictions
use constraint:  otherRestrictions
Other constraints
Access Constraints: None Use Constraints: None Distribution Liability: While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.
Resource extent
Geographic Extent
Geographic Bounding Box
westBoundLongitude  -99.09
eastBoundLongitude  -99.09
northBoundLatitude  19.24
southBoundLatitude  19.24
Temporal Extent
Publication Date 1985-09-19 1985-09-21
Credits:
Patricia Lockridge
point of contact - pointOfContact
organisation Name  DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI> National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
position Name Hazards Data Manager
Contact information
Address
325 Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80305-3328 Country USA
electronic Mail Addresshaz.info@noaa.gov
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Scope of quality information
scope level  repository
Level Description
other component described  NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
Resource lineage description

Resource distribution information

Distributor
distributor contact - distributor
organisation Name  DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
position Name User Services
Contact information
Telephone
Voice 303-497-6826
Fax 303-497-6513
Address
325 Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80305-3328 Country USA
electronic Mail Addressngdc.info@noaa.gov
hoursOfService 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday
Standard ordering process
fees None
Ordering Instructions  Ordering Instructions: Images may be downloaded from: https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazardimages/event/show/13
turnaround
None
Format
Format name TIFF
Format version
Digital Transfer Options
Linkage for online resource
URL:https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazardimages/event/show/13
Linkage for online resource
URL:https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/
Digital Transfer Options
Medium of distribution
name  cdRom
medium Format  iso9660
Metadata data stamp:  2015-10-14
Resource Maintenance Information
maintenance or update frequency:
notes: This metadata was automatically generated from the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata: Extensions for Remote Sensing Metadata standard version FGDC-STD-012-2002 using the June 2011 version of the FGDC RSE to ISO 19115-2 transform. The Spatial Reference Information is not currently mapped over to ISO but will be mapped in future versions.
notes: This record was automatically modified on 2015-10-14 to include references to NCEI where applicable.
Metadata contact - pointOfContact
organisation Name  DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI> National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
position Name Hazards Data Manager
Contact information
Address
325 Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80305-3328 Country USA
electronic Mail Addresshaz.info@noaa.gov
Metadata scope code  dataset
Metadata language  eng; USA
Metadata character set encoding:   utf8
Metadata standard for this record:  ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data
standard version:  ISO 19115-2:2009(E)
Metadata record identifier:  gov.noaa.ngdc.mgg.photos:G01196

Metadata record format is ISO19139-2 XML (MI_Metadata)