U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

OPEN FILE REPORT 20101083-F

TECTONIC SUMMARY

Seismicity of the Earth 1900 2007

Mexico and vicinity
1 2

PRE-INSTRUMENTAL SEISMICITY 15001899

Events causing deaths
1812 Charlotte

Located atop three of the large tectonic plates, Mexico is one of the world's most seismologically active regions. The relative motion of these crustal plates causes frequent earthquakes and occasional volcanic eruptions. Most of the Mexican landmass is on the westward moving North American plate. The Pacific Ocean floor south of Mexico is being carried northeastward by the underlying Cocos plate. Because oceanic crust is relatively dense, when the Pacific Ocean floor encounters the lighter continental crust of the Mexican landmass, the ocean floor is subducted beneath the North American plate creating the deep Middle America trench along Mexico's southern coast. Also as a result of this convergence, the westward moving Mexico landmass is slowed and crumpled creating the mountain ranges of southern Mexico and earthquakes near Mexico's southern coast. As the oceanic crust is pulled downward, it melts; the molten material is then forced upward through weaknesses in the overlying continental crust. This process has created a region of volcanoes across south-central Mexico known as the Cordillera Neovolcnica. The area west of the Gulf of California, including Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, is moving northwestward with the Pacific plate at about 95 mm per year. Here, the Pacific and North American plates grind past each other creating strike-slip faulting, the southern extension of California's San Andreas fault. In the past, this relative plate motion pulled Baja California away from the coast forming the Gulf of California and is the cause of earthquakes in the Gulf of California region today.

Compiled by Susan Rhea, Richard L. Dart, Antonio Villaseor,1 Gavin P. Hayes, Arthur C. Tarr, Kevin P. Furlong, 2 and Harley M. Benz
Institute of Earth Sciences, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802 USA

120
Los Angeles

115

110

105

100

95

90

85

1887

Phoenix San Diego

Atlanta

Mexicali

El Paso

United States
Mobile Austin
iss

Dallas

1568 1864 1870 Jacksonville 1773 1874 1873 1773 1854 1873

30
I. Guadalupe (Mexico)

I. Tiburon

Hermosillo Chihuahua
Miss

ip

Fa

I. de la Guarda

San Antonio

Houston

New Orleans
n

30

Mexico has a long history of destructive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In September 1985, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake killed more than 9,500 people in Mexico City. In southern Mexico, Volcn de Colima and El Chichn erupted in 2005 and 1982, respectively. Paricutn volcano, west of Mexico City, began venting smoke in a cornfield in 1943; a decade later this new volcano had grown to a height of 424 meters. Popocatpetl and Ixtacchuatl volcanos ("smoking mountain" and "white lady," respectively), southeast of Mexico City, occasionally vent gas that can be clearly seen from the City, a reminder that volcanic activity is ongoing. In 1994 and 2000, Popocatpetl renewed its activity forcing the evacuation of nearby towns, causing seismologists and government officials to be concerned about the effect a large-scale eruption might have on the heavily populated region. Popocatpetl volcano last erupted in 2010.
DATA SOURCES AND MAP DISPLAY

Gu lf
of

I. Cedros

Tampa

The earthquake locations shown on the main map (left) and on the depth profiles (lower left) are taken from the global 19002007 Centennial catalog (Engdahl and Villaseor, 2002) and a catalog of high-quality depth determinations for the period 19642002 (Engdahl, personal comm., 2003) . Great earthquake (M8.3) nucleation points are indicated with year of occurrence labels; their rupture zones are shown as pale yellow polygons) No great earthquakes, however, have occurred in the mapped region. Major earthquakes (7.5M8.2) are indicated with year of occurrence labels. Subduction slab contours are colored and labeled as to depth (Hayes and Wald, 2010). The Seismic Hazard and Relative Plate Motion map (below) shows the generalized seismic hazard (Giardini and others, 1999) and relative plate motion vectors (open arrows with labels; DeMets and others, 1994).

C al if or ni a

25

Culiacan
ca

Mexico
Durango
Isla Maria Magdalena

Saltillo

Monterrey

Sig

sbe

e Esc ar

pm

en

Pacific Ocean

C
M

25

Gulf of Mexico
Sigsbee Deep Mexico Basin

Key West

F lo r i

da

The pre-instrumental seismicity map (upper left) shows approximate locations of events based on macro-seismic reports and field investigations (NOAA National Geophysical Data Center database of significant earthquakes, 2010). These are earthquakes for which deaths were reported. Base map data sources include GEBCO 2008 shaded relief, Volcanoes of the World dataset (Siebert and Simkin, 2002), plate boundaries (Bird, 2003), and geographic information from Digital Chart of the World (ESRI, (2002).
REFERENCES

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T
R

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rp
N

m
C

ro

n
H

Havana
Campeche Bank

u g h
Canyon San Jose

Ulloa Knoll

Mazatlan Basin Islas Maria Tres Marias Basin

San Luis Potosi Aguascalientes

Tampico

Isla de la Juventud

Bird, Peter, 2003, An updated digital model of plate boundaries: Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, v. 4, no. 3, 52 p. DeMets, Charles, Gordon, R.G., Argus, D.F., and Stein, Seth, 1994, Effect of recent revisions to the geomagnetic reversal time scale on estimates of current plate motions: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 21, p. 21912194.
, ,

Bander

on as Cany

Guadalajara
Volcn de Colima

Merida Queretaro

20

A' Morelia Paricutin

Isla Cozumel

a Tr o u g h

F. Z . larion
MAP EXPLANATION

Yu

Isla Roca Partida Isla Socorro Isla Clarin

ca

1995

2003

F . Z .

1941 1973 1985 1985 1979

Cuernavaca Popocatpetl
60
1908
C a m

Puebla Ixtaccihuatl

ta

Islas Revillagigedo ( M e x i c o ) Isla Benedicto

1932

1932

Toluca

Mexico City

Veracruz B'
100
Cayo Norte

n si

20
a Caym Grand Cayman Island e T idg R N an A

Engdahl, E.R., and Villaseor, Antonio, 2002, Global seismicity: 19001999, in Lee, W.H.K., Kanamori, Hiroo, Jennings, P.C, and Kisslinger, Carl, eds., International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology: San Diego, Calif., Academic Press, v. 81(A), Chap. 41, p. 665690. ESRI, 2002, ESRI Data and Maps: ESRI Redlands, Calif. GEBCO, 2008, The GEBCO_08_Grid, ver. 20091120, last accessed January 8, 2010 at http://www.gebco.net/.

Magnitude classes
45.9 66.4 6.56.9 77.4

Nucleation points Rupture zones Active volcanoes

zum

cte

T R

I C

1911 1957

1909

1907

1911

Petal co Canyo n

Villahermosa El Chichn Tuxtla Gutierrez

60
1902

Cayo Lobos

ym C aY

Acapulco
e

Turneffe Is.

Giardini, D., Grnthal, G., Shedlock, K., Zhang, P., and Global Seismic Hazards Program, 1999, Global Seismic Hazards Map, last accessed January, 2007 at http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/GSHAP/. Hayes, Gavin, and Wald, David, 2010, Slab models for subduction zones: U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, last accessed July 22, 2010 at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/data/slab/. NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, 2010, last accessed March 31, 2010 at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard.

1928

Belize

Mo

1928 1999 1928 1978 1931 1917

te

7.7 7.8 7.9 8.0 8.1 8.2

200 300 400 500 600

pe

100

F.Z

15

7.5 7.6

Mean slab depth

60 km

.Z. Orozco F

Guatemala
1976 1950

San Pedro Sula

Isla de Utila

Isl

e l a B a h ia as d Isla de Guanaja

Isla de Roatan

Lightning Bank

Honduras
Tegucigalpa
Cayos Miskitos 2001 I. Providencia (Colombia) I. San Andres (Colombia) I. del Maiz Grande

15

Siebert, Lee, and Simkin, Thomas, 2002, Volcanoes of the worldAn illustrated catalog of Holocene volcanoes and their eruptions: Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information series, GVP-3, last accessed January 9, 2007 at http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/.

Plate boundaries
Subduction Transform Divergent Others

Albatross Plateau

te

EAS

ha Te

1902 1942

100

San Salvador

un

Tarr, A.C., Villaseor, Antonio, Furlong, K.P., Rhea, Susan, and Benz, H.M., 2010, Seismicity of the Earth 19002007: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3064, scale 1:25,000,000.

RISE CIFIC T PA

I C

Nicaragua
Managua
1992

Depth of focus
069 km 70299 km 300700 km

Seismic Hazard and Relative Plate Motion

110W 100W 90W

g de ara go ic La N

Clippert

Teh

a un

ec t ep

. F.Z

Los Angeles Clark Basin San Diego

Phoenix Dallas El Paso 44

FIGURE EXPLANATION
Peak ground acceleration
00.2 m/s 0.20.4
30N

on Ridge Clipperton Island (France)

1950

ua

San Jose

UNITED STATES
San Antonio Houston New Orleans

120
Universal Transverse Mercator Projection

115

110
0

105
Scale 1:8 000 000 100 200 300 400 500 600

100
700 800 Kilometers

95

90

85
Digital map database and cartography by Susan Rhea and Art Tarr Manuscript approved for publication January 6, 2011

30N

0.40.8 0.81.6 1.63.2 3.26.4 6.49.8

G ul f

Chihuahua
or

of C al if

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government

ni a

B -100

0 TRENCH AXIS

100

200

300

400

' B

46

Magnitude classes Depth of focus

45.9 66.4 6.56.9 77.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 8.0 8.1 8.2 069 km 70299 km 300700 km Nucleation points Active volcanoes

DEPTH PROFILE EXPLANATION

-100 0

Distance (km)
100 200 300 400 500 600 TRENCH AXIS 0 -100

Earth structure
Air Crust Upper mantle Transition zone Lower mantle

Profiles of earthquake and volcano locations are constructed from the mapped data. Locations of the profile intersection with the surface are drawn in the map and labeled to coincide with the profile label. Box defines extent of earthquakes included in the profile. Length of the profile graphic is the same as in the map. Distance in kilometers from the trench axis is indicated in the X direction, depth in kilometers is indicated in the Y direction. There is no vertical exaggeration. See Explanation at side for color key. Not all earth layers, earthquake depths or magnitude, are visible on every profile.

A -200

-100

100

200

300

400

' A

TRENCH AXIS 0

Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also contains copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items for other than personal use must be secured from the copyright owner This map was produced on request, directly from digital files, on an electronic plotter For sale by U.S. Geological Survey Information Services Box 25286, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 1-888-ASK-USGS A PDF for this map is available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1083/f/ Suggested citation: Rhea, Susan, Dart, R.L., Villaseor, Antonio, Hayes, G.P., Tarr, A.C., Furlong, K.P., and Benz, H.M., 2011, Seismicity of the Earth, Mexico and vicinity: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 20101083-F, 1 sheet, scale 1:8,000,000.

47

MEXICO

Monterrey

Relative plate motion

11.019.9 mm/yr 20.039.9 40.059.9

NORTH AMERICAN PLATE

Gulf of Mexico

0
Pacific Ocean

-100
20N

58 17

60.079.9

Depth (km)

-200 -300 -400 -500 -600 -700 -800

Guadalajara Mexico Toluca City Puebla

Merida
20N

-100

80.0100.0

-200

-200

PROFILE A

PACIFIC PLATE

PROFILE B
-300

73

Plate boundaries
44 59
Subduction Transform

PROFILE X
-300

RIVERA MICROPLATE

GUATEMALA

-400
110W

COCOS PLATE
100W

Guatemala City Tegucigalpa

90W

HONDURAS

Divergent Others