According to different media at the time, the week of March 14, 1979 trembled several times in Mexico City. However, it was the early morning of that day that a 7.6 magnitude earthquake, later called “El Temblor de la Ibero”, would cause considerable losses, especially at the Universidad Iberoamericana, located in the Campestre Churubusco neighborhood, in Coyoacán.
Irreparable damage due to “The Tremor of the Ibero”
On the morning of March 14, 1979, at 5:07 a.m., an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale with an epicenter in Petatlán, Guerrero, shook Mexico City. and it was considered at the time the most intense in two decades.
Similarly, Guerrero and Michoacán were also affected and in total, four people lost their lives, 500 suffered injuries and more than 70 buildings were damaged. Likewise, it is known that 23 tremors were registered that day throughout the day, which added to the collective panic in the affected areas.
In fact, the tremor marked a before and after in the history of the educational institution: three of its buildings collapsed and material damage was estimated at several million pesos. Fortunately, no one was injured or lost their lives. Of course, classes were suspended for a week to deal with the crisis.
The solidarity of the Mexicans emerges
Subsequently, different institutions offered their facilities so that the students could resume their classes, including the National Polytechnic Institute, the College of Civil Engineers of Mexico and the Cultural Institute.
Also, on May 31 of that year, prefabricated facilities were inaugurated, named by the students as chicken coops and classes were held there that summer. These new spaces, the library and the rest of the buildings that were not damaged, housed the university until 1988, when the new headquarters of the institution in Santa Fe opened its doors.
Finally, this episode in the history of Mexico City is another proof of its inhabitants’ ability to overcome life’s adversities.