It was 32 years ago this month that my husband and I were simultaneously jolted awake by a deep rumbling of the earth.

Still in the fog of sleep, we recognized what was happening, slipped out of bed and took shelter in a doorway of the modest cottage we inhabited at the time.

As the shaking went on and on interminably, the coffee cups and cooking pots hanging on the kitchen wall rattled furiously. Then we heard water sloshing out of the swimming pool next door. It was our first earthquake experience in Mexico, the killer convulsion that devastated the nation’s capital 500 kilometers to the south.

Back in 1985 we didn’t own a television. Days passed before we were able to grasp the magnitude of the disaster and all the gory details trickling in through newspaper reports.

Flash forward to September 2017. News of the September 7 quake that hit Oaxaca and Chiapas and this week’s blow to Mexico City, Puebla and Morelos spread in a split second.

Aside from round-the-clock coverage on satellite and cable TV channels, the information flow has been magnified by the Internet, mobile devices and social networking.

Minutes after the rumbling stopped, horrifying video clips started popping up on my cellphone via my Whats App connections.  On the scene witnesses captured images of tall buildings waving in the air, structures crashing to the ground, terrified people screaming with fear and running for cover as the world crumbled around them.

It wasn’t long before the images switched to portray the magnificent spirit of Mexican solidarity in the face of tragedy. They showed ordinary folks scrambling to rescue those who were injured or trapped in the rubble. The tireless and noble efforts that are still going on as I peck away at my keyboard are engraved in the brain.

One can’t ignore the immediate benefits surfacing from technological advances. Mobile phones now make it possible for survivors buried beneath collapsed structures to transmit calls for help, or searchers to detect pings that may help locate victims.

Social media has been vital in getting out the word of the places where help is most urgently needed and exactly what sort of materials are particularly useful.  Postings have guided the injured to hospitals and clinics where emergency care is readily available.

Google activated its People Finder platform to assist desperate folks locate missing loved ones and reconnect with friends and family. GoFundMe is keeping track of crowdfunding campaigns for Mexico earthquake relief that have rapidly gone global.

Here at lakeside, Facebook groups have been instrumental in channeling generous hearts to collection centers receiving supplies to sustain disaster victims and search-and-rescue teams in the aftermath.

Perhaps the most uplifting experience of the past week was catching a fleeting moment in the chaos that was circulated on Twitter. It was a quick clip of a truckload of rescue workers belting out the chorus of “Cielito Lindo” as they raced down the street.

Ay, ay, ay, ay; Canta y no llores; Porque cantando se alegran; cielito lindo, los corazones.

The message “sing, don’t cry, because singing cheers up broken hearts” might qualify as an alternate national anthem in this time of grief.