Bermuda Team Safe After Mexico Earthquake

April 18, 2014

32rThe Bermuda National School Debate team were evacuated from a building today [Apr 18 ] when a magnitude-7.2 earthquake struck Mexico, and fortunately all the team is safe and well.

Ryan Robinson Perinchief, JaShonae Smith, Glenn Simmons and Asha Symons are in Mexico to represent Bermuda in the Panamerican Schools Debate Tournament in Mexico City.

The earthquake struck at around 11.30am Bermuda time, and was felt across at least a half-dozen states and Mexico’s capital, where it collapsed several walls and left larges cracks in some facades.

According to a Reuters report, some residents of the capital ran outdoors in their pajamas after the quake.

Electricity was cut off in parts of the city and some residents said paintings fell off the walls while small parts of masonry crumbled inside apartment buildings.

Robinson-Perinchief said, “When the earthquake hit we had been preparing for a debate and the team was separated at the time.

“The debates were taking place at Tecnológico de Monterrey and although emergency instructions given to us were in a Spanish, we managed to run out of the building as the glass, tables, and lights began to shake.

“We waited at the evacuation point [pictured] for 10 minutes to see if there was an aftershock but there was none. We were instructed to go back inside after the building was declared safe to enter and then during a new debate an aftershock tremor did hit and we had to evacuate again.”

The debate will continue, with teams from Bermuda, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Mexico and the United States debating in both English and Spanish.

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  1. Bermuda Team Competes In Panamerican Debate | Bernews.com | April 21, 2014
  1. Voter (original) says:

    Very scary. Glad all are ok.

  2. Carlton Crockwell says:

    Praise The Lord
    that they are fine. I will keep them in my prayers.

  3. I'm Amazed says:

    Safe travel home Team Bermuda!! You’ll certainly have stories to tell…..

  4. I remember being in Mexico and watching a live show on mexican tv called “The Phantom”, and an earth quake happened…it was about 1967-68′,it was a live program with no seven second delay,the actors were swearing in Spanish….the actors were trying to stay on there feet and cameras and lights were swaying and falling over,the room of the hotel was shaking and you could actually feel and hear the ground rumble.

  5. Debaters mom says:

    Looking forward to hugging him one more time.

  6. Debaters mom says:

    The team is back home and safe.