Tijuana Temblor Report

When that 7.2 earthquake shook Tijuana on Easter Sunday at around 3:35 p.m., this reporter was crossing the Tijuana River on the pedestrian bridge. Upon reaching the upper deck on the western side of the river, the tower above the deck began to sway and rumble and made a metallic scraping noise. Merchants’ metal racks — attached to the concrete walls of the zig-zag switchback ramp that leads to the ground — began to bounce up and down as the vendors tried to hold on to their wares.

In the plaza below, at Calle Primera and Negrete, shopkeepers ran from their shops, and customers left the beer bar right under the bridge, fearful of a possible collapse. They milled around in the plaza for several minutes after the quake.

Upon reaching the Zona Norte, I saw numerous denizens and patrons of the notorious nightclub district exiting bars, strip clubs, and dancehalls. They gathered out on the streets of Coahuila, Constitución, and Calle 123.

A desk clerk at the Hotel Leyva said the shaking was substantial and in a sharp sideways and up-and-down direction. Three streetwalkers on Callejón Coahuila were standing on the street when the quake hit and described it as strong, adding that the seismic activity did not cause them too much distress.