Mixcoac-Plateros crack: Cablebus terminal, on seismic fault
The Mixcoac Modal Transfer Center (Cetram) has a land reserve of almost two thousand square meters, which, due to its mobility connectivity, could house the terminal station of Cablebús Line 5, which the Mexico City Government plans to build in order to connect the upper and difficult-to-access area of La Magdalena Contreras with the Mixcoac station of the Metro, Periférico and other primary roads, in Álvaro Obregón.
However, the terminal station of the new Cablebús line will have to coexist with the Plateros-Mixcoac seismic fault.
To rule out risks for users and residents of the area, specialists in seismology and civil engineering warn that it is necessary for the work to have "a safety and structural resistance assessment."
Exactly one year ago, UNAM scientists confirmed the presence of a crack that runs almost uninterruptedly through the Mixcoac area, which could be the cause of the series of micro-earthquakes that this area of the city is experiencing.
What is certain is that the Cablebús will start from here in Tierra Unida (La Magdalena Contreras) (…) and the most viable terminal would be Mixcoac,” said the head of government, Clara Brugada, on February 13.
Leonardo Ramírez Guzmán, a doctor in civil engineering and researcher at the UNAM Engineering Institute, told Excélsior that this project “will have to be built with extreme caution, considering the seismic movements characteristic of the Mixcoac area.”
He said that the geological fault "generates rapid seismic movements with a strong vertical component. This can cause the fall of objects and significant structural damage."
He therefore indicated that, if the project is carried out, a specific seismic hazard study must be carried out, taking into account the vulnerability of the terrain.
- In Mixcoac, Metro lines 12 and 7, Trolleybus Line 3, two RTP routes and seven concessioned transport routes converge.
- Insurgentes is 1.5 kilometers away, where Metrobús Line 1 runs.
- This year, the extension of Line 10 of the Elevated Trolleybus will arrive.
MICROSEARCHESIn itself, the entire Mexico City is a risk zone, because it is a highly seismic region. However, due to the presence of microseisms in Mixcoac, which are really significant vibrations but do not last long, the risk can be modified depending on the structural measures taken when building," said the researcher who is part of the team of experts from the UNAM Engineering Institute in charge of the study The puzzle of seismicity in the west of Mexico City , which revealed the presence of the Plateros-Mixcoac fault.
From January to December 2024, the National Seismological Service (SMN) recorded 94 low-magnitude earthquakes with epicenters within the territory of Mexico City.
Most of the points of origin of these movements were in the municipalities of Álvaro Obregón, Miguel Hidalgo and Benito Juárez, in addition to La Magdalena Contreras, Tláhuac, Iztapalapa, Tlalpan, Azcapotzalco and Coyoacán, according to SSN records.
Last January, three seismic events with magnitudes between 1.5 and 2.6 occurred in the Benito Juárez and Álvaro Obregón municipalities.
Despite their low magnitude, microseisms are usually felt intensely in the epicentral zone and can cause damage to buildings, said Víctor Manuel Espíndola, a geophysicist with the SMN consulted by this newspaper.
However, he stressed that "this does not prevent the implementation of major mobility projects.
What is required is to do the corresponding studies and see where the foundations will be built.”
He stressed that “the entire western area of Mexico City is full of geological faults.
The Sierra de las Cruces and the cracking (near the Cetram Mixcoac) require a special study to be carried out" in order to be able to build the Cablebús station, he said.
After announcing the project, Clara Brugada explained that feasibility studies are currently being carried out to determine the route and the number of stations that the new cable car route will have, and that the results will be announced in a month.
The intention, he said, is to connect the work with the mobility network and reduce the transfer time of more than two hours from the highest part of La Magdalena Contreras to Periférico or to the Miguel Ángel de Quevedo Metro station.
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