Mexico Stadium That Will Host Patriots Suffers Minor Earthquake Damage

The future site of a New England Patriots game found itself in harm’s way of a deadly earthquake Tuesday.

Estadio Azteca, an iconic Mexico City soccer stadium that will host the Patriots and Oakland Raiders for NFL game on Nov. 19, suffered minor damage when a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the city, according to ESPN’s Leon Lecanda.

Initial reports indicated the stadium sustained significant damage, most notably a massive crack running through an upper section of stands.

Yet reporters since have pointed out that the crack actually was built into the stadium for the exact reason of minimizing damage during earthquakes by providing extra flexibility. Here’s a video of the crack during Tuesday’s earthquake:

Per Lecanda, engineers inspected Estadio Azteca following the earthquake and found only light damage, meaning it should be fine to host the Patriots and Raiders in November. But there still were enough issues for Mexican soccer officials to postpone a Copa MX championship series match at the stadium Tuesday night.

The earthquake also wreaked havoc in many other parts of the city, and Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman was among those who offered his condolences to the people of Mexico’s capital.

UPDATE (11:10 a.m. ET): The NFL is conducting its own review of the stadium, according to Ben Volin of The Boston Globe, but it seems to have weathered the earthquake well.

Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images