with Eduardo
Hernandez
BY MERARI CALDERON RUIZ
MANAGING EDITOR
Imagine being in a mall with hundreds of people, only one flight of stairs, one exit and an earthquake hits. On Sept. 19, Eduardo
Hernandez witnessed first-hand the earthquake in Mexico. He is a lab technician at Clackamas Community College. He helps with
welding and manufacturing, and he is in charge of making sure students have the materials they need.
Editors Note: This interview has been
translated from Spanish.
The Clackamas Print: When did you
go to Mexico?
Eduardo Hernandez: I arrived on
September 7 and I came back September
20.
TCP: Where were you at the tim e of
the earthquake?
EH: I had to go out with my sister to
eat at the mall. We planned to meet at
2 in the afternoon. So, f decide to get
there a little earlier so I can shop around
and have a good tim e. But, as I enter the
m all and I walk towards the escalators, I
start to feel a movement. And I said, am
I getting dizzy or what’ s going on? When
you start to look around, everything starts
to creak, everything starts to move and
the people start to run. It was at that time
where I started to be cautious. It was an
earthquake.
Then, I turn around and put my back
against a concrete column that holds the
structure, and I stay there. Once there,
you start to observe all the people that
are running, crying, screaming. That mall
has the characteristic that it is next to
the public transportation system that is
in Mexico, which transports thousands
o f people in one day. So, when the train
came with all the people, all the people
started to run. It’s terrible, you don’t even
know what to do.
I stayed put. Then, a w om an comes
next to m e, she grabs me by the arm and
wouldn’t let go. She holds me tight and
starts praying, asking for God to forgive us
for what we had done. She was extremely
nervous, and she asked m e, why don’t
we go outside? I said, no because by the
time we run, it’ s better to stay here, let
it be God’ s will. Now, the only thing you
have left to do is look up and wait until the
pieces o f material start to fall. You can’t
do anything else and a lot of people stayed
npyt to the colum n. Then, when you see
Clackamas Print
that everything has calmed down, you go
outside. The street was chaos. The entire
public transportation system stopped
and the people were running, com ing
and going, crying, fainting, ambulances
and all in seconds. I don’t know how
long it could have lasted honestly, what
I do know is that it was o f 7.1, but it’ s
something that impacts you. I think that
everyone feels that life gives you a second
chance.
Once outside, everyone was waiting to
see what was going to happen. I stayed
th ere for about two hours. T hen, in
that moment, the mall gets on fire but
the good thing was that everyone was
outside. The only dangerous part was that
it could reach the gas tanks and explode.
So, security comes and tells everyone to
m ove further away from the building.
1 decide to go back home and I had my
flight back the next day.
I have a friend in the Franklin library,
w hich is sponsored b y the Am erican
government, in the center of the City of
Mexico. I called him and he said, come
over. I arrived there and I waited for
about two hours for everything to calm
down. W hen I see the news, I noticed
the magnitude o f the tragedy o f what
had occurred. Buildings collapsed, people
died, people stuck inside the buildings,
it’s something strong.
TCP: How lo n g do you fe e l th e
earthquake lasted? .
EH: Right there you feel like it lasts
an eternity. Although, in reality, I don’t
know. It could have been seconds, but
you feel like it just keeps going on and
on. About an hour after everything had
passed, you would be standing up and
you could feel the movement in your feet.
It is my understanding that there were
two, one right after the other. The first
was trepidatory and th e second was
oscillatory. So, that’ s what provoked the
catastrophe.
TCP: Is there anything else you would
like to add?
EH: When I came back, thanks to all of
the teachers here and all my friends, they
were interested in how I was and how my
family was. A teacher tells me, it’s a good
thing you got out of there safely. Here in
Oregon we are waiting on one at 9.1, and
he tells m e, since you already survived
two, if it happens, I’ m going to stay with
you that way I will survive the third one.
This interview has been edited for clarity
and space.
For the full story, go to
theclackamasprint.net.
Eduardo Hernandez is a lab technician in the manufacturing department at
Clackamas Community College.
theclackam asprint.net
OCTOBER 11, 2017