Huge boulders break off a mountain near Mexico City, plunging into a densely populated neighborhood

tlalnepantla-landslide-mexico-city-september-2021

A part of a mountain in Tlalnepantla, located on the outskirts of Mexico City, gave way on Friday, September 10, 2021, sending huge boulders — some of them the size of small homes — into a densely populated area, and leaving at least 1 person dead and 10 missing.

The landslide followed days of heavy rain in central Mexico and M7.0 earthquake on September 7 in Acapulco1. Mexico state Gov. Alfredo del Mazo said Friday night that both factors likely contributed to the slide.

Residents immediately started search and rescue operations and continued until the night when authorities pulled them off due to the risk of more landslides.

"We don't want to anyone to take additional risk," said Ricardo De La Cruz, Mexico state's deputy interior secretary. "The geologists have told us that the landslide is complicated. We have made flights with drones and we don't want to put anyone in danger."2

De La Cruz added that the priority on Saturday was to stabilize the slope and continue the search. However, the likelihood of finding survivors is falling as rescuers with dogs and sensitive equipment did not detect anything under the rubble.

Images from the area showed a segment of the steep, green side of the peak known as Chiquihuite sheared off above a field of giant rubble with closely packed homes remaining on either side.3

YouTube video

YouTube video

References:

1 Very strong and shallow M7.0 earthquake hits near Acapulco, Mexico – The Watchers

2 Landslide near Mexico City leaves 1 dead, 10 missing – CBC

3 At least 1 dead, 10 missing in landslide near Mexico City – AP

Featured image credit: Rahul Upadhyay

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