This is Ana, a three-year-old little girl who lost everything due to the earthquake, including her home. Despite what she lost, she did not stop smiling.
On Sept. 19, an earthquake shook central Mexico, bringing high buildings to the ground and leaving many people homeless and around 230 dead.
The earthquake left damage— both physical and mental— to the people living in the Mexican states of Puebla, Morelos and the Greater Mexico City area. Coincidentally, the 7.1 earthquake occurred on the 32 anniversary of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake that killed 10,000 people. Two weeks prior, on Sept. 7, the first earthquake left around 100 dead.
When rescuers were at work, they asked for silence from surrounding people, hoping to find those trapped under fallen buildings and rubble.
“I thought at first that the football team was jumping near me, as it felt like I was on a platform and people were jumping up and down on it,” Alejandro Plata said, remembering the day of the earthquake when he was at Universidad de las Americas Puebla like yesterday. “That moment, the earth changed and everything started to swing left and right; it became difficult to walk normally.”
“My first thought was my family and, because I was nervous, I couldn’t grab my phone from my pocket of my pants,” Marinieves Plata, Alejandro’s sister, said, at a supermarket when the earthquake hit.
Geraldine Alvarez was in class on the second floor of her high school.
“The teacher was explaining something and in that moment, everything started moving and I stood up and ran to the stairs to go to a place that was safe like the soccer field. When I was running, everything was still moving. I have no idea how I didn’t fall. There were pieces of the plaster falling down and in that moment, I thought the entire building was going to fall down,” Alvarez said.
“My first reaction was to run, find my siblings, and call my parents,” Erika Plata, cousin of Alejandro Plata and Marinieves Plata, said.
Geraldine Alvarez and Erika Plata’s high school reopened Sept. 29. In the meantime, maintenance looked through the building, as a safety precaution.
The disaster was categorized as a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. According to UPSes, earthquakes between 7-7.9 cause serious damage and happen roughly 20 times a year.
Reflecting on the earthquake: Marinieves Plata and Geraldine Alvarez explained their aftershock.
“I can’t sleep because I think every sound I hear is something falling. Everywhere I go, I check where a safe spot would be. I don’t want to leave my house so I can be near my loved one in case something happened. I am alert to every sound or movement,” Marinieves Plata said.
Mexican citizens have a new outlook on life, as a result of the earthquake. Marinieves Plata is on high alert everywhere she goes. Geraldine Alvarez is reminded of the experience every time she sees a place and remembers what once was.
“Seeing many places I saw all the time are now ruined or devastated is so sad and something more important is knowing that many people died or were physically hurt is devastating,” Geraldine Alvarez said.
Physically safe and okay, Alejandro Plata, Marinieves Plata and Erika Plata and Geraldine Alvarez turned to help others in need. Although they lost so much, they wanted to give back to others.
Alejandro Plata started off with some friends, going to a small town near Puebla called San Francisco Xochitempan.
“We delivered food to the people and told them to go to the local shelter, for it was not safe for them to stay in their houses since they were pretty damaged and could fall,” Alejandro Plata said, describing the day after the earthquake. “The next day, we went back to deliver more help and we started to help the people pick up the rubble of what was left of their houses. Right now, I am doing a social service, collecting food for the less fortunate. I also want to start a fundraiser with the people in Pennsylvania to help us rebuild the houses and the church of this village.”
Marinieves Plata wanted to help provide food for those in need.
“The day after the earthquake, I went at 7 a.m. to buy groceries to donate. Then, I went to a friend’s house to make lunches for the volunteers and for the people in need. After that, I went to another friend’s house around 4 p.m. to make pantries,” Marinieves Plata said. “Going to a little town called Atzizihuapan. I felt that I needed to help somehow.”
Geraldine Alvarez helped pack lunches for volunteers and those now homeless.
“We also went to my school to help pack food, clothes, hygiene stuff, medicine, etc. the school was receiving from random people and we put those things into a truck so that it would get to the communities faster,” Alvarez said.
“The things I’m doing to help are making food for the ones that lost their homes, go to help them reconstruct their homes, and collecting stuff like beans, rice, bread, cookies, water, etc.,” Erika Plata said.
Marinieves Plata helped many families, including Ana’s.
“Ana has a 10-month-old brother, mother, and father. This is her new house,”Marinieves Plata said.
“There is only room for a table and two mattresses on the ground. They don’t have a bathroom, kitchen, or anything else.”
“I really hope that people don’t quit volunteering, this is not a two-day problem. It is a one-year problem or more. I think this was also an opportunity for people who didn’t know the reality in Mexico to see it, to see how poor people can actually be,” Marinieves Plata said.
“That day, not only did the ground move, the heart of the people and their souls moved too,” said Marinieves Plata.
