2,000 historic buildings in Mexico hurt by quake

MEXICO CITY — From one side, Our Lady of Angels Church in Mexico City looks like it survived the Sept. 19 earthquake unscathed. But from the opposite side, its large blue cupola appears almost sliced in half, with deep fissures running up the part that remains. Chunks of rubble weighing at least a ton split from the structure and crushed the side of a public elementary school next door, while other debris covers broken wooden pews.

Years of deterioration from previous earthquakes had built up, and the magnitude 7.1 quake — the death toll for which was at 360 on Saturday — proved to be the final blow.

The building’s scars deepened, but the cupola, framed with several stained glass windows, didn’t fall until the afternoon of Sept. 24, hours after the final Mass. No one was hurt.

The next day, people gathered behind the police tape around the structure.

Rosa Maria Quezada, 72, teared up as she hugged neighbors. She said she grew up in the neighborhood and has attended the church since she was a girl. The news pained her, but she said, “God is great. How good that it happened on a Sunday. Otherwise the children would have been at school.”

Officials from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History say almost 2,000 historic buildings were damaged in the earthquake, most of them churches. Other damaged structures include homes, schools, office buildings, libraries and hotels.

Most of the affected churches were in Puebla, including Our Lady of Remedies, atop the Grand Pyramid of Cholula, which lost two of its cupolas. The Archdiocese of Puebla said 226 churches — nearly half the number located in the state — are damaged. The state of Mexico government said 136 churches are damaged, plus 92 churches in Mexico City, according to that area’s archdiocese.

Twenty other churches were damaged in Morelos, according to its archdiocese. The Archdiocese of Oaxaca said 78 churches are damaged there, but officials are unclear which are due to a Sept. 7 earthquake and which are due to the earthquake last month.