The Richter Scale measures the magnitude of earthquakes in a ruler of intensity that goes up to 9 and indicates the destructive potency of these natural phenomena. The shock felt in Mexico during this week reached the 7.1 degree of the scale, which indicates the possibility of serious damage in buildings and that is what happened. Much of this destruction occurred because of constructions that did not incorporate security technologies and shock prevention.

In 2011, in Japan, the tsunami earthquake caused losses of more than R $ 330 billion, even with a history of investment in civil engineering technologies developed many years ago by the country.Brazil, despite not suffering from this type of disaster, in the first half of 2017, 62 earthquakes were recorded, eight of them with magnitude between 4.0 and 4.8, according to data from the Center for Seismology of USP. By the Richter Scale, the intensity of these shocks can cause glass breakage, cracking of the walls and moving furniture.

Read more (in portuguese): Buildings in Brazil could not withstand earthquake