January 11, 1924 - Topics on Newspapers.com

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News from January 11, 1924 (The Ithaca Journal, via Newspapers.com™)

Mexico City Destruction Prophecy

In the early days of 1924, Mexico City was in the grip of fear resulting from a prophecy of an impending earthquake and volcanic eruptions. This prediction was made by a British prognosticator and had dominated the public discourse, replacing the usual reports on the ongoing revolution in Mexico, for several days.

Some sections of the city’s population were seen taking the prophecy very seriously. Churches started filling up as panic-stricken citizens searched for comfort. This state of terror was documented in many newspapers such as ‘The Buffalo Commercial’, ‘The Ithaca Journal’, and ‘Star-Gazette’. Increased activity from the nearby volcano, Popocatepetl, sparked further dread among the populace as they perceived it as a looming sign of disaster.

Supporters of the prophecy began to garner evidence by connecting global events to the prediction. They cited the extreme cold weather in the United States, storms along the British coast, floods in France, avalanches in the Alps, and recent earthquake disturbances in Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico as signs justifying their fears.

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