Every Minute Counts, a 2024 documentary drama series, portrays the initial nine hours of a critical, intense disaster reality of the Mexico Earthquake measuring 8.1 magnitude on the Richter scale triggered at 7:17 AM on September 19, 1985. This catastrophic disaster resulted in thousands of people buried and massive infrastructural destruction. This series portrays widespread deaths, injuries, and damage visualization of the immediate before and after impacts of this catastrophic Earthquake left in the history of Mexico City that changed the course of the entire nation. It effectively brings traumatic personal stories, expert analyses and real-life footage to explore the intricate dynamics of disaster response, resilience and governance.

The series’ narratives revolve around a general hospital doctor and nurses, a female journalist and a family that struggles to unite. Studies on this event have also found the ‘family’ as an influential ‘unifying factor’ during mass emergencies and disasters and point out concerns of family members in the rescue process significantly help rescuers with information and speculate the possibility of their presence trapped inside the rubble (Dynes, Quarantelli, & & Wenger, 1990) (Alexander, 1990). The writers of this fictionalized characterization displayed the actual human behaviour accounting of the event and affected people who survived the Earthquake.

Since the impact occurred in the morning when the majority of the people were preparing for the day, on their way to the office, school, or already at work, it directly reflects the exposure to the disaster. Durkin study findings also suggested that due to unawareness and lack of training and preparedness, several respondents in his study reported ‘staying where they were once the shaking began because they believed that was the correct way to cope’ instead of escaping from the building (Durkin, 1985).

The documentary employs thousands of volunteers spontaneously united in search of victims that evoke proactive and willing responses towards collective action, solidarity and cooperation despite the authority’s resistance. The authors cite Quarantelli’s (1986-87) study and state, “On this specific event, eighty-five per cent of the survivors were rescued by kin, friends, and neighbours” (Delica-Willison & Gaillard, 2012, p. 712).  As reflected in disaster research findings, the first responders are often not formal agencies but rather local community members, and there is an increase in volunteering activity during emergency periods (Dynes, Organized behavior in disaster, 1970) (Johnson, 1988) (Dynes, Quarantelli, & & Wenger, 1990). This display in the series of immediate responses of people’s heroic rescues and solidarity to help those who were buried alive and trapped inside debris when the city was paralyzed.

The series consistently highlights the interconnected nature of decisions, actions, coordination and challenges that are portrayed through a lack of effective response and recovery by critiquing governance and system failures, ultimately devaluing citizens’ lives. This government official’s response seemed very slow to respond to the disaster. It shows ‘sceptical containment‘ as described by Pascoe and Stripling and showcases the ignorance on rescue and rejecting mutual aid bridges by other countries, stating “Mexico is strong enough to handle it all alone”. This decision reflected the refusal to believe the impact was severe enough to warrant international aid (Pascoe & Stripling, 2024).

This shows how delays and mismanagement responses in governance structures, including the initial refusal of foreign aid, ultimately transformed critical moments into missed opportunities. Mauch and Prister present a positive effect in their book’s introduction chapter that this disaster was a creation of solidarity among the population, proliferating political consciousness that the authority was unequipped to conduct critical rescue and recovery operations that led to the “collapse of Mexico’s perfect dictatorship”, that held political power for generations (Mauch & Prister, 2009).

As the series was released nearly four decades after the event, it should have reflected on the Earthquake’s long-term impacts instead of only having a very specific hourly focus entirely. There is a need for broadening the documentary’s context and exploring deeper understanding beyond the immediate aftermath of a disaster. A comprehensive study could benefit a holistic representation. However, a significant theme of representation revolves around inefficient governmental response, underscoring the importance of preparedness, effective governance and ethical dimensions of disaster response. This disaster follows the series’ motive to provide a retrospective insight into contemporary discussion on this landmark event widely recognized as a turning point in disaster studies and governance framework. Hence, filming revisits a profound influence that resurfaces extensively in public discourse and offers an opportunity to reflect on the importance of disaster risk reduction in this era of rapid urbanization and climate change.

This documentary is a valuable visible contribution to disaster studies that offers not only perspective on the experiences of everyday people who became heroes but also a lens to critique and analyze disaster governance. The title efficiently illustrates how every minute of effective coordination, communication and action counts to save lives. It employs the sociological importance of robust disaster preparedness plans and effective governance frameworks that ensure every minute minimizes losses through pre-established protocols, resource distribution, and coordination to combat catastrophic failures in the future.

References

Alexander, D. (1990). Behaviour During Earthquakes: A Southern Italian Example. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters. 8(1), 5-29.

Delica-Willison, Z., & Gaillard, J. (2012). Community Action and Disaster. In B. Wisner, J. C. Gaillard, & I. Kelman, The Routledge Handbook of Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction. Pp. 711-722. New York, NY: Routledge.

Durkin, M. (1985). Behaviour of Building Occupants in Earthquakes. Earthquake Spectra. 271-283.

Dynes, R. (1970). Organized Behavior in Disaster. Lexington, MA: Heath Lexington Books.

Dynes, R., Quarantelli, E., & & Wenger, D. (1990). Individual and Organizational Response to the 1985 Earthquake in Mexico City, Mexico. Newark, DE: University of Delaware, Disaster Research Center, Book and Monograph.

Johnson, N. (1988). Fire in a Crowded Theater: A Descriptive Investigation of the Emergence of Panic. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters.6(1), 7-26.

Mauch, C., & Prister, C. (2009). Natural Disasters, Cultural Responses: Case Studies towards Global Environmental History. Plymouth PY: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Inc.

Pascoe, J., & Stripling, M. (2024). From Warning to Heroics: How Solidarity Forms. In J. Pascoe, & M. Stripling, The Epistemology of Disasters and Social Change: Pandemics, Protests, and Possibilities. Pp. 105-122. London: Rowman & Littlefield.

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Nikita Agarwalla is a doctoral research fellow at the Department of Sociology at Pondicherry University.