Catalog of historic seismicity in the vicinity of the Chixoy-Polochic and Motagua faults, Guatemala. Final report
A new catalog of shallow historical earthquakes for the region of the Caribbean-North American plate boundary in Guatemala is presented. The catalog is drawn mostly from original official documents that are considered to be primary accounts. It contains 25 damaging earthquakes, 18 of which have not previously been published. The catalog is estimated to be complete for magnitude 6.5 earthquakes since 1700 for most of the study area. The earthquakes in this catalog can be grouped into periods of seismic activity alternating with extended periods of seismic quiescence. The periods of seismic activity appear to be terminated by the major rupture of either the Chixoy-Polochic or Motagua faults, the two principal sub-parallel faults that form the transform plate boundary in Guatemala. Although the plate boundary is not simple in this region, the alternating nature of the regional seismic activity with seismic quiescence is a classic example of the seismic cycle concept. It is estimated that a very large earthquake (M 7.5) may recur along a transform boundary fault between 160 to 300 years after the previous such earthquake in the region. 20 refs., 5 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA (USA). Office of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Engineering
- OSTI ID:
- 5517218
- Report Number(s):
- USGS-OFR-84-88; ON: TI85901594
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Guatemala's Motagua Valley: a neglected piece of the northern Caribbean puzzle
A Poisson method application to the assessment of the earthquake hazard in the North Anatolian Fault Zone, Turkey