GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING RECONNAISSANCE OF THE 19 SEPTEMBER 2017 Mw 7.1 PUEBLA-MEXICO CITY EARTHQUAKE

Abstract

An intraslab subduction zone earthquake of moment magnitude 7.1 occurred on September 19, 2017 approximately 60 km southwest of Puebla, Mexico, and 120 km southeast of Mexico City, Mexico. Following the event, a joint geotechnical engineering reconnaissance effort was organized between the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance Association (GEER). Two UNAM-GEER teams of researchers were sent to the region to investigate and document the effects from the earthquake: an advance team (from September 24 to September 30) and a main team (from September 29 to October 6). These teams incorporated advanced imaging and geophysical technologies to study and document the effects from this earthquake. This Version 1 summary report presents the preliminary observations from the UNAM-GEER advance team. The forthcoming Version 2 of this report will contain the detailed observations and findings from both the advance and main UNAM-GEER teams.