Up from the Floor

With cheerful determination, Mexicans last week began repairing, restoring and rebuilding their earthquake-tossed capital. It was a formidable task: close to 100 buildings, including office and apartment buildings, 25 schools and 41 theaters, were closed as unsafe. The luxurious apartment building, Casa Latinoamerica, was likely to be condemned. The landmark office building at No. 1 Reforma was abandoned and will be torn down. The new main wing of the Continental Hilton cracked away from its annex, will be closed five months for repairs. Even buildings with unscarred fronts turned out to be wrecks inside.

As engineers and government experts surveyed the wreckage, rescue workers dug through the rubble. The scene of deepest disaster, a collapsed apartment building at Avenida Alvaro Obregon and Calle Frontera, which claimed the lives of 33 of its 45 residents, sent Builder Idel Rosenfelt to jail on charges of negligence, i.e., using poor cement. Many of the city's survivors would have to learn to live permanently with tragedy. One woman, who was dug free after lying huddled for 27 hours with the bodies of her husband and baby, went mad.

Besides the damage and loss of human lives, the government fretted over the earthquake's possible effect on the vital tourist trade. Although only 10% of U.S. tourists pulled out, the government tried to play down the earthquake. Official figures put the national death total at 67, and even when eleven more bodies were unearthed in Mexico City one day last week, the official count stayed the same. More likely fatality figures: about 200, all but 50 in Mexico City.

Late in the week, a fissure 150 yds. by 5 yds. was discovered in the state of Guerrero, about 200 miles south of Mexico City. Smoke still poured ominously from the crack. Frightened peons believed not only that it marked the source of the earthquake, but also that it might turn into an erupting volcano and cause further shocks. The still-disturbed earth shook Mexico City with nearly 100 tremors during the week. Although many of them were so slight that they could be sensed only on a seismograph, the worst one was two-thirds as strong as last fortnight's big jolt, but caused little further damage.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.