A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE CHARACTERS OF MEXICO GREAT EARTHQUAKE AND RECURRENCE OF EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS

The characters of hazards of the great earthquake with M8 in Mexico on Sep.10, 1985 have been narrated in thia paper.The most serious damage was in the area of Mexico City, which is 400km from the epicenter.The area which suffered serious damage was only limited in the center of Mexico City, which is situated on the base of young and loose lacustrine deposits with thickness 30-30 meters.But the buildings which are situated on volcanic rock around the city are not damaged.The poor foundation is the main cause of the destruction during the great earthquake.By groundwater exploitation in Mexico City, severe subsidence of the ground surface is caused.The severe shaking resulted in additional subsidence and deformation for some buildings.The seismic destruction for Mexico City again explains that the earthquake hazards have a recurrence character.The area of historical earthquake damage was almost appeared in the same region in Mexico City.Though the mechanisms of the earthquakes occurred in China and in Mexico are different, they had similar phenomenon of recurrence character of hazards.The Mexico great earthquake has provided a lot of experiences and lessons for us.