Always, after an earthquake it is important to evaluate the conditions and structural state of your home, as well as that of the electrical, gas and hydrosanitary installations, because your safety and that of those you love may depend on it.
The geographical nature of our country places us in an area of high telluric activity, it is important that you know the elements that make up the construction of your home so that you can recognize flaws in its structure.
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Always after an earthquake
After entering your home, guided by the recommendations of the Civil Protection authorities, you must evaluate the state of the gas, water and electricity installations, if you have not done so before the earthquake, you must interrupt the supply of services through a cut as soon as possible with the intention of minimizing further risks.
Next, you must identify possible structural damage to the walls, floors, and ceilings of your home in order to recognize the state of the structure and the possible severity of the faults.
Gently knock on the walls of your house and try to hear if they are hollow, the point is to identify the degree of resistance of each one. The state of the walls indicates the type of action that the structure suffered, locating cracks and fractures.
The most common damage recorded after an earthquake, according to architects, engineers and specialists, occurs in the beams and columns, parts of the structure that support the greatest weight. If any of these structures fail, the stability of the building may be compromised.
In case of locating cracks and fractures, check their angle, diagonal cracks are the ones that represent the greatest risk, in the same way, if they are vertical or horizontal, make sure that they do not exceed one and a half centimeters in thickness.
If you locate fractures in walls, columns and beams, it is recommended to evacuate the facilities as quickly as possible.
If your house turned out, what should you do?
First of all, you must report the incident to the Civil Protection of Mexico City and contact the Institute for the Protection of Constructions, this institute works with “the objective of carrying out Ocular Opinions on Structural Safety requested by both the Government of the City of Mexico, as by the Federal Government, of those existing buildings with possible structural damage or with a high degree of vulnerability due to being exposed to losing their conditions of structural safety and stability, either due to natural phenomena such as: earthquakes, subsidence, mass removal processes , rain, or by the action of man, such as self-construction, inadequate structural modifications, or lack of maintenance and accidents.
Likewise, to request a review of your home, you can do so by calling the Civil Protection telephone lines, number 5658 1111 and 911. You can also report it to the local government emergency lines, look for the Civil Protection emergency telephone numbers so that Go to your home and do an assessment of the damage.