Initially, Ricardo Ramos thought it was a drill when the ground began to shake on Tuesday. This was the day for it, after all.
Each year on September 19, cities across Mexico stage emergency disaster simulations and evacuations that bring people out in droves. The drill falls on the anniversary of an 8.0-magnitude earthquake that shook Mexico’s capital in 1985, burying nearly 10,000 people amid its rubble.
The annual drill began in Mexico City around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, just like it does every year. The alert went out over radio, television, phones and public loud speakers. People left homes, offices and shops and headed to designated safe areas promoted days ahead of time.
Then, around two hours later, the real thing struck. Ramos quickly realized this was not a drill.
The irony of the situation was apparent to Mexicans, for whom the drills are a way of life, even a minor annoyance. Many noted the contrast between the orderly, almost mundane quality of some drills and the chaos of real life.
In a first-person account posted to CNN partner Univision Network’s website, reporter Janet Cacelin wrote about her experience in the network’s office building. “We headed out to Paseo de la Reforma Avenue and once again saw the same office workers who hours earlier were chatting, playing and getting bored during the drill. Many had said it was a waste of time,” she said.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Relatives of missing people wait for news in front of a collapsed building in Mexico City on Friday, September 22. A magnitude 7.1 quake hit central Mexico three days earlier.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Rescue workers search for survivors Thursday, September 21, at a collapsed apartment building in Mexico City.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A religious statue is salvaged from a former convent that was heavily damaged in Tlayacapan, Mexico. This was the second earthquake to hit Mexico in two weeks. A magnitude 8.1 quake struck off the country's southern coast on September 8.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A wall is damaged at a home in Tlayacapan on Wednesday, September 20.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Volunteers organize donations in Mexico City on September 20.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Rescuers in Mexico City work to save a child trapped inside the Enrique Rebsamen elementary school on September 20. Rescue workers said they believed they'd made contact with a girl trapped in the rubble at the school. But by the next afternoon, navy official Angel Enrique Sarmiento said all the school's children had been accounted for and there was no student in the rubble. He apologized for the confusion.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Men carry beams of wood to offer help in Mexico City's Roma neighborhood on September 20.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Families prepare to sleep under tarps outside their quake-damaged building in Mexico City on September 20.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Rescuers and firefighters lower a corpse from a house in Mexico City on September 20.
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Volunteers and rescue workers search for people trapped inside the Enrique Rebsamen school on September 20.
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A volunteer in Mexico City asks for silence as a flattened building is searched for survivors on September 20.
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Members of the Mexican Army nap September 20 after assisting in search-and-rescue missions in Mexico City.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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People look for survivors in Mexico City on September 20.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A man walks his bike past a partially collapsed building in Jojutla on September 20.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Volunteers arrange food and other donated supplies at a distribution point in Mexico City on September 20.
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Children's toys are seen in a damaged building in Mexico City on September 20.
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A survivor is pulled out of rubble in Mexico City on September 20.
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People sleep on the street next to damaged homes in Jojutla on September 20.
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Soldiers remove debris from a collapsed building in Mexico City on September 20.
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An injured person is carried away after being rescued in Mexico City on Tuesday, September 19. The earthquake happened on the anniversary of a 1985 quake that killed an estimated 9,500 people in and around Mexico City.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Rescue workers remove rubble from a Mexico City building on September 19.
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Rescue workers in Mexico City search for people trapped inside the collapsed Enrique Rebsamen school on September 19.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A man comforts a student outside a school in Mexico City on September 19.
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A police officer runs toward the site where a building collapsed in Mexico City on September 19.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Rescue workers and volunteers search a collapsed building in Mexico City on September 19.
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A man is rescued under rubble in Mexico City's Condesa area on September 19.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A woman's crushed body hangs from a collapsed building in Mexico City on September 19.
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Recovery efforts take place at the collapse of a residential building in Mexico City on September 19.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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The quake damaged the Jojutla Municipal Palace.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A search goes on at the scene of a collapsed building in Mexico City's Del Valle neighborhood on September 19.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Emergency workers remove debris as they search for survivors in Mexico City on September 19.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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People react in Mexico City just after the quake hit.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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People gather on a Mexico City street after office buildings were evacuated because of the quake.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A building is damaged in Mexico City on September 19.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A woman in Mexico City cries as she tries to reach people on her cell phone after the quake.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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Patients from a Mexico City hospital receive treatment outside after the hospital was evacuated on September 19.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A woman in Mexico City reacts after the quake.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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People remove debris off a building that collapsed in Mexico City.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A car is crushed by debris in Mexico City on September 19.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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A woman receives medical assistance after she was injured in Mexico City on September 19.
Photos: Deadly earthquake rocks central Mexico
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People stand inside a Mexico City building that collapsed in the quake.
The 1985 disaster led to changes in building codes and enhanced emergency preparation measures, including the annual drills. This year was slightly different. The country was on edge from a September 7 earthquake that struck off the southern coast, triggering tsunamis and sending shockwaves as far as Mexico City and Guatemala City. Five states suspended drills in solidarity with those affected, and to avoid alarming residents.
Elsewhere across the country on Tuesday, the drills continued as usual. In Puebla, the local Red Cross touted the success of the city’s drill on social media, sharing pictures and saying the exercise helps prepare people for natural disasters, including earthquakes.
“Our volunteers will always be here to help you,” the agency said.
People inspect the damaged Hotel Regis after an earthquake, registering 7.8 on the Richter scale, hit Mexico City on Thursday, Sept. 19, 1985.
Paul Conklin/AP
Dorothy Munoz knew what to do. She was watching a television special in her Mexico City apartment marking the 1985 catastrophe as the ground began to shake. A fish tank fell to the floor along with decorations and furniture. She grabbed her dogs and headed for the streets where people had gathered. Officials told them to wait to return to their apartments until buildings were checked for structural damage.
Others, however, were struck by how different it was from the drill. Cacelin noted there was no 30-second warning before the temblor to give them time to gather their composure and listen for instructions. Instead of hiding under desks, Cacelin said people ran for the doors, including her.
When she made it outside, instead of laughing and joking, people were crying and desperately searching for loved ones.
“This time there was no alert, we only felt the temblor,” she wrote. “The earthquake took us by surprise.”
CNN’s Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.
