A 'Seismic' Start to the Year in Mexico

On Jan. 2, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake shook Guerrero, Michoacan, and Mexico City, fortunately without major losses. While for many people in these areas an earthquake is a temporary scare, for others it is a reminder of how vulnerable we are. Mexico, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire and at the convergence of five tectonic plates, is one of the most seismic countries in the world: about 60%[1] of global earthquakes occur here, especially in Oaxaca, Guerrero, Chiapas, Michoacan, and the capital. This turns our geography into a permanent sound board where the ground never stops moving.

Since 1900, according to Volcano Discovery[2], at least five earthquakes greater than 8 degrees have been recorded in Mexico, including devastating quakes in 1985 and 2017. These events not only marked entire generations, but redefined building standards, civil protection policies, and public discourses. Although most of these movements do not represent danger, some have left indelible traces on infrastructure, collective memory, and human lives. Their suddenness and enormous power represent a critical risk even for structures designed to the highest standards.

Over the years, Mexico has consistently occupied one of the Top 3 places on the list of territories with the most earthquakes globally (behind Indonesia and at levels comparable to Chile and Japan), and generally tops the list in Latin America, surpassing Peru, Guatemala, and Colombia. Talking about seismicity in Mexico is not a statistical issue: It is recognizing that we live in a territory where nature expresses itself with a particular intensity and where resilience is not a luxury, but a necessity.

Earthquakes unleash forces in multiple directions. Their unpredictable nature generates one of the highest levels of stress in those who experience them. Among the potential damages, one of the most critical is the danger to the integrity of structures, even in the case of the best-designed systems. The recent global experience with extreme weather events reminds us that talking about infrastructure is not just talking about work, it is talking about lives, economic continuity, and national security.

For industries that depend on critical infrastructure, particularly those related to energy, telecommunications, industrial manufacturing, transportation, or water, ensuring the survival of equipment in the face of seismic movements is not only a technical requirement: it is an operational imperative. Failure can trigger massive outages, put entire communities at risk, and lead to millions in losses. Therefore, the question is not only how to better protect ourselves, but what we can do to anticipate the force of nature with intelligence and technical rigor.

Objective: From the Basics to the Most Efficient

At the national level, it has become clear that it is necessary to have advanced early warning systems, as well as to promote anti-seismic constructions and reinforce civil protection protocols. However, these measures represent only the minimum floor of what is required to reduce the risks derived from seismic activity. The complexity of an earthquake, coupled with urban growth, population density, and technological interdependence, calls for a deeper, more innovative approach.

According to the Latin American Yearbook[3], the study of earthquakes allows valuable lessons to be learned. For decades, however, replicating the chaotic nature of an earthquake in a controlled environment has been a considerable challenge. The forces that occur during a real event, irregular, multidirectional, simultaneous, and highly unpredictable, are difficult to reproduce in the laboratory. As a result, traditional testing methods have proven insufficient, leaving a gap between what is simulated and what happens when the earth shakes.

As a natural consequence of these constraints, equipment manufacturers often adopted conservative strategies: adding additional reinforcements or materials, increasing the thickness of components, or oversizing structures. While this approach offered a sense of security, it also involved excessive costs, increased weight, inefficiencies, and even potential waste, especially when such reinforcements were unnecessary for the actual survival of the equipment.

It was clear that something had to change. The industry needed more accurate, efficient, and realistic test methods, which would allow equipment to be validated without falling into redundant or inaccurate approximations.

Collaboration, Methodology and Technology

In this context, Sopemea, a company specializing in testing and certification, took on the task of revolutionizing existing methods. Rather than relying exclusively on one-way sequential testing, it decided to adopt a multi-axis approach, capable of better replicating the complexity of seismic movements. The company sought not only to simulate real conditions, but also to streamline the configuration, execution and documentation of the tests, elements that in high-risk industries can be as critical as the results themselves.

To transform its operational capability, Sopemea, which in 2019 operated 30 different control systems, chose to partner with Siemens and adopt Simcenter. This step made it possible to integrate Simcenter SCADAS and Simcenter Testlab, a unified platform for dynamic environmental testing that centralized management, simplified workflow, and allowed for more efficient data management. This strategic decision, far from being just a software change, laid the groundwork for a new way of approaching seismic testing.

Additionally, Sopemea incorporated a triaxial vibrating table, a common tool in the automotive industry, but less used in seismic testing. By adapting it to this purpose, they were able to simulate complex, multidirectional forces in a single exercise, getting much closer to what critical equipment experiences during an earthquake. This made it possible to verify whether power equipment and other essential systems could withstand extreme conditions.

The collaboration between Sopemea engineers and Siemens experts resulted in a new methodology for deriving complex shocks from multiple shock response spectra (SRS). They developed a MIMO (multiple inputs and multiple outputs) control algorithm that allows multi-axis platforms to be controlled with previously unattainable accuracy.

The benefits were overwhelming, initial setup became 90% faster, test execution was reduced by 60%, and reporting became more consistent, collaborative, and transparent.

More importantly, users were able to ensure that the correct level of stress was applied, avoiding undertests and obtaining more accurate validations. These improvements represented a significant improvement, not only for test quality, but also for safety and efficiency in high-risk industries.

Sopemea's work not only optimizes the present. It also helps to define future standards for seismic qualifications. By improving both realism and efficiency in testing, you pave the way for safer, more dependable, and competitive product development. In a country like Mexico, where seismicity will continue to be part of our history, promoting innovations of this type is essential to protect critical infrastructure, guarantee operational continuity and safeguard lives.

[1] http://data.proteccioncivil.cdmx.gob.mx/simulacros/CDMX/Situacion-sismica.html

[2] "Latest earthquakes and tremors in Mexico, statistics", Volcano Discovery.

[3] "3 strongest earthquakes in Mexico", Latin American Yearbook.