Mexico tallying cost of devastating earthquake
MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials are tallying up the economic losses of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that caused widespread damage in the capital, as the number of buildings that may need to be pulled down or need major repairs rose to 500.
The death toll in the quake rose to 333, with 194 of those deaths in Mexico City. Authorities pledged a return to normality, but many streets in the capital were still blocked by construction equipment and recovery teams looking to extract the last remaining bodies from the rubble. Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said 40 to 50 people are still considered missing.
The city government announced a plan of reconstruction loans and aid for apartment dwellers who lost their homes or who may lose them as teetering buildings are pulled down.
But for businesses like the restaurant Guapa Papa, the result is already all too clear.
Sitting in the entrance of his restaurant Monday, surrounded by caution tape, Antonio Luna said: “This is a bust. It’s already closed due to structural damage to the building.”
He had to let go the three dozen employees at the 1950s-themed restaurant and is just trying to salvage furniture and equipment.
Moody’s Investors Service said in a report Monday that the Sept. 19 earthquake that caused damage and deaths in the capital and nearby states “has the potential to be one of Mexico’s costliest natural catastrophes.”
In the short run, there will be a boost as Mexico City and the federal government tap their disaster funds, unleashing a stream of money into the economy. As of June, the city’s disaster fund stood at more than $500 million, making it slightly larger than the national fund, Moody’s Investors Services reported.
The national fund also has to deal with recovery from the even stronger Sept. 7 quake that has been blamed for nearly 100 deaths, mostly in the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.
There will be months of work ahead from demolition to repairs and reconstruction.
Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said that 500 “red level” buildings would either have to be demolished or receive major structural reinforcement. An additional 1,300 are reparable, and about 10,000 buildings inspected so far were found to be habitable.
At least 38 buildings, including apartments and office buildings, collapsed during the earthquake.
AIR Worldwide, a Boston-based catastrophe modeling consultant, provided a wide range for industry-insured losses, but noted they would be only a part of the total economic losses. It put the insured losses at between $725 million and $2 billion.
But monetary losses are only part of the equation.
Edgar Novoa, a fitness trainer, went back to his job Monday after working as a volunteer following the earthquake. Around midday, he stopped his bicycle at a cleared foundation where a building of several stories had stood near his home.
He knelt and prayed while others left flowers and candles at the site.