MEXICO CITY, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- When Benny Flores heard the earthquake alarm warning, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves, turned off the car and grabbed her bag in case she had to abandon the vehicle.
The 7.2-magnitude tremor on Friday revived bitter memories of the Sept. 19 earthquake which toppled buildings and left 228 people dead in the capital alone.
Flores watched as one of the nine buildings that comprised her residential complex tumbled down during that quake.
Though the alarm sparked fears of a new disaster, Benny said this time she felt better prepared.
"In my family we are all aware that when it begins to shake, you have to go to a safe place and stay calm," said Flores, 56.
The business woman is temporarily renting an apartment because the building where she lived sustained structural damage.
The recent frequent striking of major earthquakes in Mexico has led many residents to take precautionary measures, instead of reacting with panic or anxiety.
People calmly streamed out of homes, offices and shops once the alarm went off on Friday, though a few had to be comforted by their friends or families.
In addition to the city-wide alarm system that blared over loudspeakers, there were mobile phone apps that texted warnings to subscribers.
The latest quake caused damage but no casualties in the capital and at its epicenter in the southern state of Oaxaca, while the 8.2-magnitude quake which struck on Sept. 7 claimed 102 lives in Oaxaca and neighboring Chiapas state and the 7.1-magnitude tremor on Sept. 19 killed 369 people in the capital and five nearby states.
"People in Mexico now understand the importance of evacuating their homes and their offices to save their lives," head of Mexico's Civil Protection Service, Luis Felipe Puente, told Xinhua by phone.
"That (awareness) has lowered the mortality rate from the earthquakes in September and this time," said Puente
"We can see that society's behavior has changed, and we hope it continues that way," the official added.
Francisco Pinto, a bank employee, is among thousands of residents who subscribed to one of the emergency apps.
The 43-year-old heeded the text alert on his cell phone and left his office, which is next to a damaged building that has been abandoned since last quake.
"All the people in the neighborhood filed out in an orderly way, although a few were hysterical," said Pinto.
Mexico sits atop a complicated juncture of five tectonic plates: the Pacific, Rivera, Cocos, North American and Caribbean plates, making it highly prone to earthquakes.
