2010-09-21 09:47

MEXICO CITY - About 6 million people participated on Monday in an earthquake drill in Mexico City after the 25th anniversary of the quake that killed thousands of people in the Mexican capital.

The drill began at 11:01 am local time (16001 GMT) with an alarm rang over the city. It covered 7,000 buildings including Torre del Caballito, a landmark building of Mexico City.

After the alarm, the people were directed to the safe areas. A police named Jose Carmona told Xinhua that they used about 9 minutes to evacuate the people in Torre Caballito. "The building has 31 floors, so 9 minutes is a reasonable time, " he said.

According to Carmona, after the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, the government established an earthquake prevention mechanism including at least two drills annually.

Jaime Cedillo a drill volunteer in Torre del Caballito, told Xinhua that "the earthquake in 1985 remains fresh in our memories, despite it has passed 25 years. We still have many things to learn."

A 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck Mexico City in 1985, killing at least 10,000 people and leaving a quarter of a million homeless.

For Hector Martinez, an old man who experienced the 1985 earthquake, the terrible memory has died away. "I am only thinking about hard work. If there is an earthquake again, I will not be scared because I am sure somebody will take me to the safe place. "

Maria Rosano, an environmentalist who worked in Torre Caballito, was just 4 in 1985. According to her, the Mexican people have created a kind of earthquake culture which is an improvement compared with 25 years ago.

"But I think the drill should be improved," she said."The government should not inform the citizens when the alarm will ring, because we have no time to prepare when a real earthquake happen." she said.