Mexican authorities have yet to react to damage caused to civilian homes and buildings in Mexico City’s poorest neighborhoods following several earthquakes over the last 2 weeks. While initial damage to buildings was minimal from the earthquake in mid-April, a second earthquake on May 8th wreaked havoc to homes and businesses in areas with already poor infrastructure.
Mexican authorities reported an initially successful response to the earthquake using their Seismic Alert System of Mexico (SASMEX). However, in Mexico City’s poorest neighborhoods, there was severe damage to homes and buildings. Residents report that response from authorities has been minimal- while Mexico’s emergency disaster response fund FONDEN is the body primarily responsible for developing a plan to address damage to low-income housing areas, no officials have been seen in these neighborhoods in Mexico City. “Real people have been affected by this earthquake and no one cares. We keep hearing about how successful the response has been and how minimal the damage has been, but that’s not what I see when I walk out the door and look at my neighborhood.” says local from Neza-Chalco-Itza, debatably the largest slum in the world. As many as several hundred homes have been destroyed, along with countless injuries to residents.
Amnesty International strongly recommends that Mexican authorities immediately respond to the damage in parts of the city which have not yet received sufficient aid.
