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By Miriam Raftery
May 4, 2010 – ECM has received several e-mails from readers with updates on the situation in Baja, California and Mexicali in Imperial County more than a month after the devastating Easter earthquake.
According to an eyewitness in Mexico, flooded villages have started to dry up and trucks have been dispatched to remove large quantities of mud from homes. Crowds of people have been asked by police to return to their villages, but sleep outside of their damaged homes.
“Geologists are studying the land because the number of thousands of eruptions of boiling hot sulfur water has caused a serious concern,” a witness stated. “Hopefully results come out to say the land is habitable, but if not, hopefully the people will be guided to safer land.”
Other witnesses have sent us photos and descriptions of mud volcanoes, geologic formations that can occur with plate tectonic shifting. Earth movement creates cone-shaped mounds that spew forth sediments and in Mexico's case, foul-smelling sulfuric water. Some have errupted inside homes.
A temporary canal is being worked on because since all of the canals broke there is no running water, and this is a temporary measure to at least have canal water available. The most damaged villages areEjido Zacamoto, Ejido Durango, and Ejido Cucapah Indígena, hough many others were severely damaged as well. The Mexican military has been cooking large pots of hot meals and has them available 24 hrs a day. Food is being distributed in designated areas, but running water remains a critical problem.
For those seeking more information, Mexicali channel (canal 66) has been an informative source nightly, while a program titled “Con Sentido” airs at 10 pm every week night and can be viewed on the internet at www.canal66.tv.
In Imperial County, some students have been displaced and transferred to other schools. El Centro’s aging water tower has been demolished due to quake damage. Some downtown Calexico merchants have reopened for business, though aftershocks continue to rumble through the region.
“It’s time to head back to downtown Calexico and do some shopping,” suggested Imperial Valley Press editor Brad Jennings.
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