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A 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico last September cracked open a 13th century Aztec pyramid and revealed an even older temple within.

Archeologists discovered the ruins of the temple using radar technology when they were surveying the damage caused to the Teopanzolco pyramid, found 70 kilometres south of Mexico City.

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The pyramid was heavily damaged in the earthquake, which flattened Mexico City and resulted in the deaths of more than 200 people, according to archeologist Barbara Konieczna. It caused parts of the pyramid to sink and lean in a different direction. It suffered “considered rearrangement of the core of its structure.”

Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/Getty Images

“In spite of what the earthquake meant, it is necessary to be thankful that for this natural phenomenon appeared this important structure that changes the dating of the archaeological site,” said Konieczna in a news release from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.