Mexico City
Not earthquake safe: In the wake of the devastating Sept. 19 earthquake that killed at least 369 people—including 228 in Mexico City—Mexicans are asking whether the devastation would have been less had construction firms followed building codes. An elementary school that collapsed in Mexico City, killing 19 children and seven adults, was built of unreinforced concrete, which can easily snap in a temblor, and had an illegal fourth floor where the principal lived. A six-story office block that pancaked was only supposed to be two stories high. “Our collective negligence and corruption,” said former Mexican government official Gabriel Guerra, “is coming back to bite us where it hurts.”