The natural disasters in Mexico they include recurring phenomena such as hurricanes and earthquakes. Likewise, floods, landslides or landslides, fires and natural biological disasters.
Among some of the reasons is its geographical location between the North American and Central American tectonic plates, which makes it a territory with high seismic activity. On the other hand, being between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, Mexico is regularly subjected to cyclones or hurricanes, as well as extreme rains..
Additionally, a high percentage of the Mexican territory is arid or semi-arid, so extreme droughts are also a relevant problem. In fact, according to the National Center for Disaster Prevention, an average of 300 extreme natural phenomena occur annually in Mexico, in many cases causing natural disasters..
To all this must be added the increasingly frequent occurrence of epidemics and pandemics, such as natural biological disasters. This causes that around a quarter of the Mexican population is affected in one way or another by natural disasters. These have a high economic cost and for example, for 2010, 7,208 million dollars were reported in losses.
In 2009, a mutation of the influenza virus AH1N1 spread through Mexico causing an epidemic. The first cases were detected on April 11 in the state of Veracruz and on the 23rd the World Health Organization warned of the danger of a pandemic.
The disease is considered to have started in the Carroll de Perote pig farms in Veracruz. Finally, more than 70,000 people were infected in Mexico and more than 1,000 of them died, the majority in Mexico City.
This was the hurricane that opened the 2010 season in the Atlantic and was the worst in 20 years to hit the state of Nuevo León. It entered this territory on June 30 of that year, causing damage in 90% of its extension. It also affected other entities, causing loss of human life in Monterrey, Acapulco, Chiapas and Oaxaca, a total of 38 people died.
At 4 am on September 28, 2010, a landslide occurred in the community of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec in Oaxaca. This was caused by the rains generated by Tropical Storm Matthew, which saturated the soils on the slopes of the Sierra de Juárez. As a result, a 200-meter strip of land slipped, causing damage to homes and leaving an unfortunate death toll of 11 people..
At the beginning of the night of December 10, 2011, there was an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 Mw (seismological scale), with its epicenter in Zumpango del Río in Guerrero. This earthquake also affected Mexico City and the states of Oaxaca, Puebla, Michoacán and Morelo and left a tragic balance of 2 dead and 6 injured..
In the state of Chihuahua, located north of Mexico on the border with the United States, tornadoes have occurred on several occasions. In September 2011, a strong tornado destroyed the roof of a school campus, without causing loss of human life..
Later, in 2013, Chihuahua was hit again by this natural phenomenon, when another tornado formed in the municipality of Villa Ahumada. On that occasion, strong winds of up to 150 km / h knocked down fences, electric poles, roofs of houses and overturned vehicles. The losses were in infrastructure, but no human lives were lost.
In the 2013 hurricane season, between September 15 and 16, Mexico was severely affected by the combined action of two hurricanes. On the one hand, Hurricane Ingrid hit the Mexican coasts in the Gulf of Mexico and on the other, Hurricane Manuel hit the Pacific.
Together they caused 200,000 victims and 157 deaths, the most affected states being Veracruz and Hidalgo. This was the second time that two hurricanes were combined under these conditions and is considered one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters from an economic point of view..
At 6 am on May 25, 2015, a tornado formed in the city of Acuña in Coahuila de Zaragoza. The natural phenomenon only lasted about 30 minutes and reached the F3 category, devastating the city, leaving 14 dead and 229 injured. Around 1,000 homes were destroyed, as were numerous vehicles and urban infrastructure.
In June 2016, the sequential action of tropical storms Amanda and Cristóbal caused heavy rains and landslides in several Mexican states..
These storms formed in the Atlantic Ocean and impacted the area of the Yucatan peninsula and much of southeastern Mexico. The states of Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas were seriously affected.
The effects of the storm caused the death of two people and costly economic damage, both to crops and facilities. Among the latter, several oil platforms and a floating dock in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
This earthquake took place on September 7, 2017, reaching a magnitude of 8.2 Mw, with its epicenter in the Gulf of Tehuantepec. It is considered the strongest earthquake recorded in Mexico since 1932, when the Jalisco-Colima earthquake occurred. Additionally, it caused a tsunami that affected the coast of Chiapa with waves of 3 m in height..
This earthquake affected many communities in Chiapas, as well as in Tabasco and Oaxaca. The most affected community was Juchitán in Oaxaca and in total there were 100 deaths, about 900 injured and around 22,500,000 affected.
This earthquake occurred only 12 days after the Chiapas earthquake, on September 19, 2017 and reached 7.1 Mw. This natural phenomenon affected a large part of the central states of Mexico, with the highest number of fatalities being in Mexico City..
Other states particularly affected were Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Guerrero, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacán and Veracruz. A total of 370 people died and 7,289 were injured, in addition to economic losses in the order of 0.2% of the country's Gross Domestic Product.
In 2018 the state of Sinaloa was affected by the highest rainfall in its history. It was tropical depression 19-E, which left 1,475 people affected, 3 missing and 4 dead. The intense rains caused the flooding of 41 colonies and 31 communities.
The National Meteorological Service pointed out that it was the first time that a cyclone had formed in this region and attributed it to the consequences of climate change..
The state of Baja California, especially Tecate and Ensenada, were seriously affected by extensive forest fires. These natural disasters left 2 dead, 236 homes destroyed, and thousands of hectares of forest and farmland devastated..
On Friday, June 23, 2020, a 7.4 Mw earthquake occurred with an epicenter south of Crucecita in Oaxaca. This earthquake damaged 8,000 homes, 213 schools, 15 health centers, 3 hospitals, 7 bridges and 5 stretches of highway in 145 municipalities of the state. In terms of human victims, the earthquake caused the death of 10 people and injured 23 others..
On the other hand, it caused minor damage in 10 other states of the country and in Mexico City. It even caused damage to 14 buildings and the collapse of 3 buildings and a house..
In 2020, unusual rainfall occurred in southern Mexico, causing 10 rivers to overflow and causing floods and landslides. These heavy rains were caused by the action of 3 sequential cyclones, Tropical Storm Gamma, Hurricane Delta and Hurricane Zeta. In addition to the confluence of tropical storm Eta and cold front number 11.
The events affected the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and Veracruz mainly. Around 135,000 people were affected by losing their homes and belongings, and 35 people died.
This disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, originated in Wuhan, China, acquiring the character of a pandemic. In Mexico, the first case was detected on February 28, 2020 and to date there are 2.5 million infected, 1.68 million recovered and 191 thousand deaths. Being the worst natural disaster occurred so far in Mexico since the misnamed Spanish Flu or Red Plague.
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