The 7.7-magnitude quake, which killed at least one person, came on the anniversary of the extremely deadly 1985 and 2017 earthquakes in the country
It didn’t take long after yesterday’s big earthquake for Mexican social media users to joke around, providing a rather welcome injection of hilarity as many upset citizens tried to digest the uncanny coincidence — the quake came on the anniversary of two devastating and killer earthquakes.
From WhatsApp to Instagram to Facebook, stressed-out Mexicans tried to deal with the inexplicable with humor, as the tremor not only came on the anniversary of two of the deadliest earthquakes in the country’s history, but also just an hour before a preparedness drill was held for earthquake response in the capital and other major cities.
“These Mexicans are very tough, they do earthquake preparedness drills with real earthquakes,” said one meme, captioning a photo depicting a very impressed former US President Barack Obama.
The 7.7-magnitude quake, which killed at least one person, came on the anniversary of the country’s extremely deadly 1985 and 2017 earthquakes (with death tolls of 10,000 and at least 350, respectively, according to official numbers).
Mexico, one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, has a population accustomed to extremely quick evacuations of people from buildings when earthquakes strike, often with surprising calm.
The date of the earthquake gave rise to several of the memes. Someone thus inspired the image of a bird reading a book with devotion under the title “How to fly from September 18th to 20th”.
#Temblor #Seismic alert #Earthquake
El 19 de Septiembre después de que acaba de temblar otra vez hace unos minutos en el aniversario del de de de 1985 y 2017 pic.twitter.com/3xU1m8wsw3— Eric ☄️ (@ericcallsyou) September 19, 2022
One of the memes, which parodies the tourism ministry’s advertising campaign, also invites foreigners to “Visit Mexico” and “every September 19, experience a real earthquake.”
Other jokes were more political, such as one that has President Andrés Manuel López Obrador commenting that the earth shook, but it had shaken more during the days of his predecessor.
The center-left veteran of Mexican politics often lashed out at previous Mexican presidents, accusing them in particular of corruption, criminality, mismanagement of the economy.
Several of the memes embrace the fear of living with the expectation that the ground beneath your feet will suddenly begin to shake.
A recent university study indicated that 3 out of 10 people who lived through the September 19, 2017 earthquake are experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
However, geophysicist Carlos Valdes considers the idea that September 19 is “cursed” in the Mexican calendar to be a superstition: he called the timing of yesterday’s earthquake a mere coincidence. He found the jokes on the internet to be a necessary tonic.
“It’s, I think, a way to deal with stress and fear,” he explained.
—las placas tectonicas los 19 de septiembre#seismo #Michoacan #Mexico #Earthquake #September19 pic.twitter.com/hRWNtgbLZc
— CAPÓ CARREON (@capo_huachicool) September 19, 2022
Banda se cumplió de nuevo la tradición, espero que todos estén bien.
Un poco de humor pal susto.
😞#Temblor pic.twitter.com/lY4GBdXm4e— Multicuenta de Auron. (@20Aledavix) September 19, 2022
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
