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Kansas City man experiences deadly Mexico quake firsthand

Posted at 9:47 PM, Sep 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-20 23:36:27-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City man is stuck in Mexico City after a deadly 7.1 magnitude earthquake.

Joe Cedillo was in the Mexico City airport when the quake hit Tuesday afternoon. He said all of a sudden, everything started to violently shake.

41 Action News spoke with him by phone Tuesday night.

"I was checking in and felt the floors kind of swing and my legs were starting to swing," said Cedillo. "I looked at the lights and everything started moving. I quickly got the phone out and moved to a safe area. It was very hard to move"

Moments after the earthquake, the airport suspended operations. Cedillo then left and witnessed the devastation first-hand. It included buildings tumbling into mounds of rubble. 

Eventually, Cedillo made it back to the hotel he had stayed at prior to trying to leave.

"It has some damage," he said of the hotel. "Only floor one to seven are available. The others are closed due to damage."

Cedillo is working to get back to Kansas City as soon as possible, but for now is following the directions of authorities in the city.

"The government has told us not to go on the streets and to take all the precautions," he said.

Despite the quake and the damage, Cedillo says he doesn't feel like he's in any danger, "I feel safe. We have not had any aftershocks."

Cedillo has been in contact with his family and friends back in Kansas City to tell them he is safe. "It was a very frightening experience," he said.