--- description: Mexico City was struck by a major earthquake Tuesday, the same exact same day the capital was hit by a violent earthquake in 1985. title: Mexico City Earthquake Comes on Anniversary of Its Catastrophic 1985 Quake image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e130b12acb6b936/6988de6b0a4a226d659cff73/1101850930_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Mexico](/tag/mexico/) ## Mexico Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Major Earthquake for Mexico City Falls on Anniversary of Catastrophic 1985 Quake by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:47 AM CUTPublished: Sep 19, 2017 8:42 PM CUT  The Sep. 30, 1985, cover of TIME The Sep. 30, 1985, cover of TIMECover Credit: NOVEDADES / SIPA by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:47 AM CUTPublished: Sep 19, 2017 8:42 PM CUT The[ earthquake that struck Mexico City on Tuesday](http://time.com/4948484/mexico-city-earthquake/?xid=homepage "undefined") hit on the same exact calendar date on which the capital was hit by a violent earthquake in 1985\. The earlier quake left behind a trail of rubble and about 10,000 people dead. The coincidence is eerie, and sympathizers around the world will surely hope that the similarity stops with the identical Sept. 19 date. While Tuesday’s 7.1\. magnitude quake falls short of 1985’s 8.0 magnitude tremor, it still classifies as a “major” earthquake on the Richter scale. Videos [shared on social media](https://twitter.com/i/moments/910211748673835013 "undefined") reveal crumbling structures and smoke rising over the city due to fallen debris. The full extent of the damage remains to be seen. In 1985, TIME featured a story about the deadly quake on its cover. The piece, titled [“A Noise Like Thunder,”](http://time.com/vault/issue/1985-09-30/page/39/ "undefined") captured why earthquakes in Mexico City can be so particularly dangerous: --- > “” --- The story’s writer, Ed Magnuson, was also able to draw on the frightening experience of TIME reporter Andrea Dabrowski, who “was pouring coffee in the kitchen of her apartment in the center of the capital” at the moment the devastating earthquake struck: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4948663/mexico-city-earthquake-1985-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4948663/mexico-city-earthquake-1985-anniversary/"},"headline":"Major Earthquake for Mexico City Falls on Anniversary of Catastrophic 1985 Quake","datePublished":"2017-09-19T20:42:33.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T11:47:31.000Z","description":"Read excerpts from TIME's 1985 cover story","url":"https://time.com/4948663/mexico-city-earthquake-1985-anniversary/","keywords":["Mexico","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e130b12acb6b936/6988de6b0a4a226d659cff73/1101850930_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e130b12acb6b936/6988de6b0a4a226d659cff73/1101850930_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sep. 30, 1985","caption":"Sep. 30, 1985","creditText":"Cover Credit: NOVEDADES / SIPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mexico/","name":"Mexico"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4948663/mexico-city-earthquake-1985-anniversary/","name":"Major Earthquake for Mexico City Falls on Anniversary of Catastrophic 1985 Quake"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"New Earthquake Shakes Mexico City as Death Toll Climbs to 305","description":"A magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked central Mexico on Tuesday, the quake has killed more than 300 people.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/YyqBHVjQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-09-19T21:31:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YyqBHVjQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4948663/mexico-city-earthquake-1985-anniversary/","duration":"PT1M32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4948663/mexico-city-earthquake-1985-anniversary/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```