Mexico to reinforce earthquake alert system

Mexico City, Oct 15 (IANS)   Mexico City will reinforce its earthquake alert system by installing between 800 and 1,000 new speakers on the streets, the government announced.

This comes days after the 7.1 earthquake on September 19 killed 228 people.

Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera told a press conference on Saturday that this expansion will be focused on placing speakers near schools and in vulnerable parts of the city, where people are calling for more support.

"We are carrying out a reinforcement we feel is necessary, above all because people are calling for it," Xinhua quoted Mancera as saying.

Around 8,200 speakers have been placed around the city, along with videocameras, since September 2015 to issue a loud alarm when an earthquake above magnitude 6 is detected.

While the Mayor did not state a cost for the project, he said the new speakers would be installed in the next eight weeks.