Former Sacramento Teacher Caught In Mexico Earthquake

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A former Sacramento teacher was sitting on the top floor of her Mexico City apartment when the ground began to shake.

Dominique Cordero tells CBS13 she knew this was a big one.

"I put on my shoes, and I grabbed my keys, and I just started running out the door," she said.

The force was so strong it knocked her from side to side as she escaped.

Once out of the building, she looked up to see cracks in structures.

Dominique tells us "This building was rocking side to side—forward, backward. People were screaming. I really thought it was gonna tip over."

It didn't tip over, but plenty of buildings have collapsed in and around her neighborhood. People were screaming and crying as they searched for loved ones.

Dominique points out the tragic irony of Tuesday's earthquake. It comes on the same day as aa magnitude-8.0 quake struck Mexico in 1985.

Hours before this quake, a city-wide drill was conducted to commemorate the '85 quake.

She ends by saying, "They sound off the alarm in the entire city and all the schools and businesses--they practice evacuating in one minute --so everybody did it this morning that went to work or went to school--and it's just so eerie that 2 hours later--an actual earthquake hit."