Israel Helps Mexico After Major Earthquake
The following is an article originally published in the HuffPost. I contributed to the Huffpost on the topics of diplomacy, Mexico, and technology. At the bottom of this repost there will be a link to the original article.
Last week, Mexico City suffered its most significant earthquake since the 1985 earthquake that killed as many as 10,000 people. The September 19th earthquake hit eerily enough on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake. This latest quake have killed over 300 people and damaged over 4,000 structures leaving thousands homeless. Both fear and resilience has gripped residents who are mourning homes, places of employment, and most tragically loved ones. Israel was one of the first countries to offer assistance to Mexico. In this interview with Jonathan Peled, the ambassador of Israel in Mexico, he gives an explanation of how the Israeli rescue team came to be in Mexico. The team has been vital in the recovery effort at the collapsed building at Álvaro Obregón 286.
The Israeli search and rescue team was one of the first international teams to arrive in Mexico City after the earthquake. How was this coordinated so quickly during an active crisis?
First to place it into perspective, after the deadly earthquake in 1985, Israel was one of the first countries to send a plane with engineers and a rescue team. A week and a half ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his first historic visit to Mexico. A few days after concluding that visit the earthquake occurred. At the time of the earthquake the Prime Minister was attending the United Nations General Assembly. He picked up the phone and called the foreign minister of Mexico who was also attending the General Assembly. The Prime Minister immediately offered any assistance Mexico may need for the earthquake recovery. The Mexican government immediately said yes. They would like a rescue team. Twenty-four hours later a plane was in the air and landed on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. They have been here for five days. The team of 71 consists of engineers, search-and-rescue specialist, and additional skilled experts.
How long will the team be in Mexico?
They will be here for a few additional days. The major priority is the first week as it is a critical period to find survivors. That is why we came. The Mexican government will very shortly, in a day or two, declare an end to the search part of this disaster and the start of the second phase.
Where have you been helping?
We were assigned three different sites in Mexico City. One of them at Álvaro Obregón 286, a complicated site which was a six story building that collapsed there. A lot of people were trapped inside. That is where we are basically spending most of our time the last five days including as we speak. The other two sites in the city are in Tlapan and the area of Roma/Condesa.
What has been the experience coming in as a foreign disaster relief group?
We joined forces with the Mexican authorities and Mexican rescue teams to work hand in hand together. We are coordinating and cooperating with the Mexican rescue teams and other international teams from eight other countries. We are working all together with Spanish, Japanese, Americans, and Greeks. One of the most immediate needs for the city that has gone through an earthquake is to get people back as soon as possible to their homes, schools, and work. As part of the recovery work, we have a team of 12 engineers surveying over 100 buildings with the expectation of 200 buildings to be surveyed in total. We are helping authorities by sharing advanced building surveying technologies and applications brought from Israel.
You can read more on the HuffPost about the relationship between Mexico and Israel here.
