More than 200 people have died in Mexico after another powerful earthquake about 70 miles from Mexico City. Twelve days ago, an even bigger earthquake-the biggest in a century in the North American country-shook, killing at least 90.
We talked to a woman who knows earthquakes all too well in her home country, who is now living in West Palm Beach.
Tucked away in this corner unit of this West Palm Beach strip mall off of Okeechobee Boulevard, Anita’s Mexican Grill.
Yazmin Carbales has been behind the counter for about eight years.
Most of her family is back in Mexico, split between Morelos and Mexico City-cities about an hour’s drive apart.
Morelos is the epicenter of Tuesday’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake.
“I have the WhatsApp (a smart phone application commonly used to communicate internationally over WiFi) and they said they are okay,” she told is in an interview.
Her family runs perfume store on Tacuba Street in downtown Mexico City. They say it’s the oldest in the country. It held up, but the city heavily damaged.
“Many buildings fell. It was almost as the ’85 earthquake (was).”
Tuesday happens to be the 32nd anniversary of an earthquake that killed as many as 10,000 in Mexico. They did emergency drills earlier in the day Tuesday.
Yazmin remembers the 1985 quake well.
“It was horrible. You could see the buildings that went from one side to the other side. It was very hard,” she said. “It was like a sandwich. You could see all the floors together.”
The store closed as the city rebuilt. And now it has to be rebuilt again.
“Everybody needs help. Here with the hurricane, it was very awful. And now in Mexico,” she said.
The two recent earthquakes were about 400 miles apart. Tuesday’s a 7.1 and 12 days ago, an 8.1. The U.S. Geological Survey says it’s too early to say if the two are connected.