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. February 2008 Tuesday 19 February 2:41 p.m. and another magnitude 5 jolt next to the Cerro Prieto volcano near Mexicali. See the map here President Felipe Calderon is re-establishing strong relations with Cuba and significant investment of money from Mexico is expected. All of this comes at a time when, today, Fidel Castro announced that he is resigning as President of Cuba. There is great speculation that the real estate market in Cuba will open up later this year. Although the US government will forbid investment by US citizens, Mexico stands in an ideal position to capitalize on any changes in the policies of the island nation which is just a short plane ride from the Yucatan peninsular. The Mexican Peso is gaining strength against the US dollar and the Bolsa (stock market) in Mexico City is soaring. Monday February 18 The snow that disrupted travel in Southern California and Northern Baja has been cleared. There was around 8 inches in the mountains between San Diego and El Centro that caused Interstate 8 to be closed Friday night. A photo of the I-8 roadway last Friday afternoon is shown below. Heavy snow between Tecate and Mexicali on La Rumorosa also caused road closings there. We also heard from Barbara Anderson that there was 2 inches in San Matias (between Ensenada and San Felipe) " It broke branches off trees so it must have been a really wet snow to be that heavy!!" Friday 15 February The La Voz newspaper in Mexicali reported that 65 schools in Mexicali sustained some damage, 14 of them quite severe, in the recent swarm of earthquakes ...more Also reported today is the finding that Baja California is a safer place to be than California. Statistics clearly show that fewer tourists have reported problems in Baja than have done so in California. more Thursday 14 February In the past 24 hours there have only been around 30 earthquake aftershocks in the Mexicali region and all of these have been in the magniture 2-3 range (very mild). We hope that the swarm is now declining and everyone can get on with their lives. A heartening letter from one of our correspondents that had a house burglary last year, and his very positive experience with insurance (kudos to Lynda Bilyeu):
Wednesday 13 February. - The earthquake swarm continues to hit the Mexicali valley. Another 4.0 temblor occurred just before midnight yesterday. There have now been several hundred small aftershocks in the region though only those three that are over magnitude 5 on the Richter scale are responsible for measurable damage. However, it is unnerving to the population to keep feeling these ground shakings. News sources report that schools, cinemas and some public buildings remain closed. ...see more. We want to emphasize that no shaking or damage has been felt in San Felipe. The latest earthquake map is shown below.
Another aftershock of magnitude 4.0 on the Richter scale hit the Mexicali region last night. This earthquake was just north of the geothermal power plant and the CESPM water treatment plant as shown in the following picture:
The Cerro Prieto Volcano is seen just to the left of the arrow indicating the epicenter. The road to San Felipe (Mexico 5) is at the very left of the picture. Tuesday 12 February The current swarm of earthquakes (incuding three quakes that have reached magnitude 5) that is hitting Mexicali is unprecedented in the history of the city and, although periodic training announcements are made over the radio, very little real practice has been performed in which all city services must operate in unison. The UABC campus radio "Radio Universidad" broadcasting on 104.1 MHz FM is now prepared to act as a coordinator of information for the city authorities since the police and other emergency service radios cannot communicate with each other. (Similar to the situation in New Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina).
Many people are asking about the seismic safety of San Felipe so we are posting a separate page to give people access to the local data. In short, the hazards in San Felipe are far less than Mexicali. On average one magnitude 5 earthquake occurs each year in the sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) but most of these temblors are off southern Baja.
Friday 8 February The Flying Samaritans Central Valley (Modesto) chapter will be coming to give an ear, nose and throat, plus optometry clinic on 15-16 February.
Local News Car thefts are being reported from all different parts of town. If you park, take your car keys and lock the car. be sure you have Mexican car insurance that will cover damage and total theft. Police attribute the current crime wave to lack of money in the economy and to job losses. Environment: 1 February - Wells being checked in South campos Inspectors have been checking the wells in some of the south campos to see if pollution is entering the water used for supplying the houses. Some wells are now being filled with sand to prevent their use. We believe this is probably due to percolation from septic systems entering the ground water and allowing bacteria to migrate to the household water stream. Septic systems that are well-planned and maintained are generally very safe. The whole point of such systems is that the black waters need to penetrate slowly into the ground to give the good bacteria in the soil time to break down the effluent. In very sandy soils, the percolation can be so rapid that the effluent reaches the water table before the purification process is complete. Travel Issues: US passport changes - increased fees and New Parental Signature Requirements San Felipe's Mr. Ragtime alerted us to these new changes: On February 1, 2008, the U.S. Government will increase its fees for certain U.S. citizen passport services. For adult applicants renewing a passport, the total fee will increase to $75. For first-time applicants age 16 and over, the total fee will increase to $100. The fee for minors under 16 years of age will be $85. Effective February 1, 2008, passport applicants who are U.S. citizen minors under the age of 16 must appear personally with their parents to establish identity, proof of citizenship and proof of relationship. For parental application permission, both parents must appear together and sign, or one parent may appear to sign and submit the other parent’s notarized statement, or one parent may appear, sign, and submit primary evidence of sole authority. Minors age 16 and 17 may apply in person with their own identification, but for security reasons, parental consent may be required. If your child does not have identification of their own, a parent will be required to accompany the child and present identification. The initial reaction to the new border crossing requirements The new rules for having proof of citizenship for crossing back from Mexico to the USA are now in force. People without a passport must produce a drivers license (or other official ID with a picture of them on it) plus a birth certificate. We have been monitoring the border wait times to seee if these new requirements by the US Department of Homeland Security are causing more delays for people headed north. On the first day of enforcement, 31st January, the afternoon border wait times appear to be normal; around 1 hour at downtown Mexicali-Calexico and 1 to 1.5 hours at Tijuana-San Ysidro. Only the crossing at Tecate appears to be slower than usual, up from 30 minutes to around 60 minutes by noon. Comments in the press and from border officials indicate that the enforcement of the new requirements is starting very slowly and people are not being sent to secondary inspection for lack of papers at this time. However, we can expect that within 7-10 days the enforcement will become more stringent. We shall keep a watch on the situation. Economic issues: The World Bank releases a report on Mexican migration According to The World Bank, 11.5 million Mexico citizens have left their homeland, principally to move to the United States. While we think that most of these migrants are relatively unskilled agricultural workers, the report also finds that 5% of Mexican doctors have also left Mexico and 2.4% of all doctors in Latin America have emigrated to the USA. The World Bank study estimated that migrants sent US$25 billion in remittances to Mexico in 2007. If accurate, the sum represents only a one percent increase above the 2006 figure. In addition, a study by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) reported a dramatic leap in the number of Mexican households receiving remittances from abroad between 1995 and 2005; up from 600,000 to 4.1 million. Most money from migrants abroad went to the basic survival needs of recipients back home. Because of low wages and increases in the prices of basic necessities, the study contended that the quality of life of rural residents decreased by 44 percent between December 1, 2000 and December 1, 2007. Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos) announced its 2007 results on January 21, with crude oil production down 5.3 percent as compared to 2006. The yield in 2007 was 3.082 barrels per day, which was 174,000 bpd less than the year before. This was “mainly due to the expected decline of Cantarell, and several weather events that affected production,” Pemex wrote in a press bulletin. Cantarell is Mexico’s largest oil field, located 50-miles offshore in the Bay of Campeche. Yet income from export oil sales was US$37.947 billion in 2007, the largest amount in history, and up 9.3 percent from 2006. Regarding this revenue, Agustín Carstens, Mexico’s finance minister, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that the Mexican “government budgeted a per barrel price of US$49.80 for 2007, whereas [oil] is now selling for more than US$80.00.” This windfall income from high oil prices eased the impact of an economic slowdown in the United States. The Mexican government is proposing changes that could open areas of Pemex to private and even foreign investment and involvement to increase efficiency and find new reserves. Without new exploration and technology, Mexico is likely to become a net importer of oil in 2-5 years. Upcoming Tourism events : Saturday 1 March: Mexico Living Magazine 1st Annual Home Show 10 am to 4 PM at the Community Building in the Eijdio Plan Nacional Agrario Salon. Get Answers, Find Solutions and Live Your Dream. The Mexico Living Home Show is an event designed for anyone. Tickets are $5 and will be available only through Lion's Club, Rotary, or Las Amigas membership with 100% of all pre-sale tickets revenue going to these local community service organizations. You can't afford not to be there. Find solutions and live your dream. Saturday 19th April: The San Felipe Blues & Arts Fiesta is a presentation of the Lion's Club of San Felipe, with the support of the community of San Felipe. Live Blues, Beautiful Art & Sculpture, Amazing Talent all encapsulated in cool sea breezes and majestic mountains. An outdoor concert and art event like no other. Held downtown San Felipe at the base of the mountains along the Sea of Cortez. Lions Club International Mission Statement: To create and foster a spirit of understanding among all people for humanitarian needs by providing voluntary services through community involvement and international cooperation. Thank you, we hope to see you at the Fiesta. The Lions Club of San Felipe. Tickets: $10.00 in advance and $20 the day of the show. We are re-posting the calendar for Carnaval FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 01 3:00 DIGITAL SOUND SYSTEM – MUSIC ON THE MALECON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 02 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 03 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 04 TUESDAY FEBRUARY 05
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