海角大神

When Pola D铆az Moffitt walks into the wood-paneled seafood restaurant here on a recent afternoon, everyone on staff pauses to greet her.

It鈥檚 not the typical reception someone gets when they鈥檝e been popping into the same restaurant for a week, solely to use its bathroom, but this isn鈥檛 a typical moment in Mexico City.

Ms. Moffitt, donning a white medical mask around her neck, black plastic elbow and knee pads over her clothes, and a walkie-talkie poking out from her shirt collar, has been working in volunteer search and rescue for eight days straight across the street at 脕lvaro Obreg贸n 286. The seven-story office building crumbled to the ground on Sept. 19 amid a 7.1 earthquake, trapping scores of people. It鈥檚 one of nearly 40 buildings that flattened across the city, killing an estimated 228 people.

Moffitt is a topo, or mole, a term for the citizen rescuers that burrow deep into rubble to search for victims. She and nine other members of the Topos Adrenalina group arrived on the scene here 40 minutes after the earth stopped thrashing last month, and remained until Oct. 4, when the final known victim鈥檚 body was removed from the debris.

Those 15 days, though emotionally and physically grueling, are what she lives for 鈥� a purpose she discovered exactly 32 years ago to the day, when Mexico suffered its most famous quake. The 1985 8.0 temblor left thousands dead and hundreds of buildings crushed to the ground, leading to the creation of most topos groups. Since then, Moffitt, one of the first female topos, has traveled to dozens of countries and disasters, ranging from earthquakes in El Salvador and Haiti, and New York City鈥檚 Twin Towers following 9/11.听

鈥淚n the moment, I just ran to the rubble, I felt pulled toward it,鈥� Moffitt says of climbing onto a fallen building in the city鈥檚 center and removing rubble with her bare hands for nearly 48 hours in 1985. She kept searching for 1-1/2 months. But it was the sense of being able to help 鈥� and wanting to prepare herself and others to do even more in the future 鈥� that drove her to dedicate her life to rescue work. She went on to receive formal paramedic training and gives talks at schools and businesses about being prepared for disaster.听

鈥淚 was just 20 years old,鈥� she recalls of her first foray into rescue work, when men looked at her on top the rubble and told her she didn鈥檛 belong. 鈥淚 saw so many people who came from other countries to help. I said to myself, 鈥榃hen someone needs my help in the future, I will go.鈥� 鈥� She followed through one year later, traveling to a deadly quakezone in El Salvador.

鈥淭he government doesn鈥檛 send us. We pay our own way.... We travel to help and represent Mexico with dignity,鈥� she says.

Into the rubble

Topos aren鈥檛 your typical search and rescue crews. Most groups were founded in 1985, when citizens responded using their instincts and adrenaline rather than high-tech tools. In the years since, members have had formal training听but still shy away from things like heat sensors, instead searching for tunnels created when the structure fell.

鈥淧eople enter the rubble like little fish. They are swimming, moving themselves through paths we鈥檝e found or created,鈥� Moffitt says, slowly wiggling her body to show how she might use her shoulders, knees, and elbows to shimmy through a tight space, as deep as 100 feet. The teams are skilled in recognizing where wreckage can safely be moved without shifting the entire collapse site, which could put buried survivors at more risk.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e inside a tunnel, you search with your ears, with your voice,鈥� calling for anyone who can hear to knock three times, she says. 鈥淵our hearing becomes very concentrated. You isolate all the outside noises so you can determine what you鈥檙e hearing: someone breathing softly, a groan, any sign of life.鈥澨�

It鈥檚 overcast and rainy on the morning of Sept. 27, a week after the quake and midway through the search. Topos aren鈥檛 the only ones involved at this point, with foreign volunteers and Mexican soldiers stand atop the rubble alongside them. Rescuers have moved onto the roof of a nearby building, where they can look down onto the wreckage. The work is slow moving.

Most bystanders are restricted听to an area nearly a football field away. For the first few days, even victims鈥� relatives weren鈥檛 able to get much closer 鈥� or much information. Government officials weren鈥檛 updating families on a regular basis, and, even once there was more communication, about three days post-quake, it was vague.听

鈥淭here were families who were spending long days and nights in the rain, waiting for any news about their loved ones, only to learn their child or sibling鈥檚 body had been recovered one or two days prior and already taken鈥� to the morgue, says Miguel 脕ngel Avila Bolo帽es. The body of his cousin, Erick Mart铆n Acosta Hern谩ndez, a 23-year-old working at an accounting firm, was found Sept. 22. The family says an autopsy showed he likely survived beneath the rubble for the first 24 hours after the office building collapsed.

Mr. Avila says his family is frustrated with officials and saddened by their loss. 鈥淏ut the work the [members of]听Topos and other groups are doing? We鈥檙e so grateful,鈥� he says.

鈥淭hey are risking their lives to do this complicated work, to save others鈥� lives. They bring skill and experience to this search,鈥� he says. The civilian response, he adds, has been a silver lining after the quake. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if in other countries it鈥檚 like this. But many [groups] like the Topos have come out and lifted the people. Mexico isn鈥檛 like what you see in the news where everything is bad. Yes, there is bad, but the good [people] far outweigh the bad,鈥� he says.听

By early afternoon, someone on the street below the building passes up a blue tarp to the men and women combing the rubble. Next come several white sheets, brought up in a paint bucket-pulley: telltale signs that a victim has been found.听

Topos听together

Any rescue requires teamwork, Moffitt says.鈥淭he only time an individual is the sole rescuer is when the victim is sitting above the rubble like a flower, ready to be picked,鈥� she says. 鈥淥therwise, it鈥檚 a group effort,鈥� the culmination of hours of moving rubble or scoping out safe paths to tunnel into.

鈥淢y motivation is to find one life. That alone keeps me going,鈥� Moffitt says. But being able to return a body to a family 鈥渋s just as important.鈥� It allows a family to start the long process of grief and 鈥渞econstructing their lives.鈥�

Since literally running head-on into this work more than 30 years ago, Moffitt herself has become a mother and a grandmother. And despite the risk, her dedication and drive haven鈥檛 faltered.

鈥淚鈥檓 hard-headed. I鈥檓 persistent, a fighter,鈥� she says. She considers herself lucky to have the support of her family听and remembers a point when her three daughters started running to her anytime they saw news of a disaster on TV.

鈥淒o you need to go, Mom? Can we help you pack your bag? Do you want us to look up information for you?鈥� she recalls them asking.

鈥淭hey grew up with a mom who is not normal,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I think they have always understood the importance of this work. Of giving back and helping [people] move ahead.鈥�

The work is exhausting 鈥� and it shows. At one point during an interview, Moffitt鈥檚 head momentarily dips to her chest. She whips it back up, blinking rapidly. 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 disconnected.鈥�

All of the city鈥檚 various topos听groups are 鈥�100 percent volunteer,鈥� Moffitt says. They receive no government support, and most volunteers have day jobs.听

A lot has changed among the topos community since the 1980s. For starters, she says, 鈥淚 see a lot more young women doing this work.鈥� But there have been other important changes as well. 鈥淚 feel so much support,鈥� she says. 鈥淲ith all this globalization, it鈥檚 no longer just rescuers showing up from Spain, Germany, Israel, the US.

鈥淧eople are calling us on the phone, setting up [crowdsourcing] fundraisers, sending us messages online,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible. People are taking the time 鈥� even if just a few seconds 鈥� to show empathy for those who are suffering,听and support for others working to save lives.

鈥淎ll I feel is thanks.鈥�

How to take action

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