Building with structural damage is at risk of collapse in Tláhuac

Residents of the Zacatenco housing unit in the San Francisco Tlaltenco neighborhood of the Tláhuac municipality live in fear that at any moment one of the three buildings in the adjacent Nueva Tenochtitlan unit, which has structural damage, will collapse.

Before the earthquake, this unit had cracks. We are very scared because there are children, cars and people on this side of the unit. People live in this new Tenochtitlán unit despite the risk they have and all the people who are living there could also cause these buildings to collapse,” said Mrs. Martha García, a resident of the area.

This is one of three affected buildings in the Nueva Tenochtitlán unit that also has cracks, separation between one building and another, and damage that is evident on the inside and outside of the property.

The fractures must have been around 10 or 12 years ago, but they became more pronounced after the earthquake and that's when the building cracked completely. The buildings are five stories high and all are occupied," said Mr. Jorge Sánchez, a resident of the area.

Meanwhile, Mr. Carlos Sánchez, one of the affected neighbors, said that "the truth is that we are always worried, the issue of earthquakes does worry us, to be honest, we are just waiting for the day that the wall can fall, we do not have a safe area, the buildings are in front of our parking lot, they are where we always met in case of an earthquake, but now we can't anymore, we are waiting for the moment that it falls and we no longer have to do anything."

We are constantly worried and seeking help from the authorities to find a solution," he added.

Following the constant complaints that the neighbouring residents have made to the local authorities, they fear that an earthquake, softening due to rain or vibration from passing vehicles could be the cause of the damaged building collapsing.

JCS