PLANETARY TREMORS: Strong 6.2 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off The Coast Of Guatemala - USGS! [MAPS + TECTONIC SUMMARY]

USGS earthquake location.

April 15, 2016 - GUATEMALA - A magnitude-6.2 earthquake has struck an area off the Pacific coast of Guatemala.

There are no immediate reports of damages or injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake occurred Friday just after 8 a.m. local time (1400 GMT).

USGS shakemap intensity.

It was centered about 135 miles (219 kilometers) southwest of Guatemala City.

The head of Mexico's civil defense agency says the quake was also felt lightly in the state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala.

Seismotectonics of the Caribbean Region and Vicinity

Extensive diversity and complexity of tectonic regimes characterizes the perimeter of the Caribbean plate, involving no fewer than four major plates (North America, South America, Nazca, and Cocos). Inclined zones of deep earthquakes (Wadati-Benioff zones), ocean trenches, and arcs of volcanoes clearly indicate subduction of oceanic lithosphere along the Central American and Atlantic Ocean margins of the Caribbean plate, while crustal seismicity in Guatemala, northern Venezuela, and the Cayman Ridge and Cayman Trench indicate transform fault and pull-apart basin tectonics.

Along the northern margin of the Caribbean plate, the North America plate moves westwards with respect to the Caribbean plate at a velocity of approximately 20 mm/yr. Motion is accommodated along several major transform faults that extend eastward from Isla de Roatan to Haiti, including the Swan Island Fault and the Oriente Fault. These faults represent the southern and northern boundaries of the Cayman Trench. Further east, from the Dominican Republic to the Island of Barbuda, relative motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate becomes increasingly complex and is partially accommodated by nearly arc-parallel subduction of the North America plate beneath the Caribbean plate. This results in the formation of the deep Puerto Rico Trench and a zone of intermediate focus earthquakes (70-300 km depth) within the subducted slab. Although the Puerto Rico subduction zone is thought to be capable of generating a megathrust earthquake, there have been no such events in the past century. The last probable interplate (thrust fault) event here occurred on May 2, 1787 and was widely felt throughout the island with documented destruction across the entire northern coast, including Arecibo and San Juan. Since 1900, the two largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the August 4, 1946 M8.0 Samana earthquake in northeastern Hispaniola and the July 29, 1943 M7.6 Mona Passage earthquake, both of which were shallow thrust fault earthquakes. A significant portion of the motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate in this region is accommodated by a series of left-lateral strike-slip faults that bisect the island of Hispaniola, notably the Septentrional Fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault in the south. Activity adjacent to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault system is best documented by the devastating January 12, 2010 M7.0 Haiti strike-slip earthquake, its associated aftershocks and a comparable earthquake in 1770.

USGS plate tectonics for the region.

Moving east and south, the plate boundary curves around Puerto Rico and the northern Lesser Antilles where the plate motion vector of the Caribbean plate relative to the North and South America plates is less oblique, resulting in active island-arc tectonics. Here, the North and South America plates subduct towards the west beneath the Caribbean plate along the Lesser Antilles Trench at rates of approximately 20 mm/yr. As a result of this subduction, there exists both intermediate focus earthquakes within the subducted plates and a chain of active volcanoes along the island arc. Although the Lesser Antilles is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the Caribbean, few of these events have been greater than M7.0 over the past century. The island of Guadeloupe was the site of one of the largest megathrust earthquakes to occur in this region on February 8, 1843, with a suggested magnitude greater than 8.0. The largest recent intermediate-depth earthquake to occur along the Lesser Antilles arc was the November 29, 2007 M7.4 Martinique earthquake northwest of Fort-De-France.

The southern Caribbean plate boundary with the South America plate strikes east-west across Trinidad and western Venezuela at a relative rate of approximately 20 mm/yr. This boundary is characterized by major transform faults, including the Central Range Fault and the Boconó-San Sebastian-El Pilar Faults, and shallow seismicity. Since 1900, the largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the October 29, 1900 M7.7 Caracas earthquake, and the July 29, 1967 M6.5 earthquake near this same region. Further to the west, a broad zone of compressive deformation trends southwestward across western Venezuela and central Colombia. The plate boundary is not well defined across northwestern South America, but deformation transitions from being dominated by Caribbean/South America convergence in the east to Nazca/South America convergence in the west. The transition zone between subduction on the eastern and western margins of the Caribbean plate is characterized by diffuse seismicity involving low- to intermediate-magnitude (Magnitude less than 6.0) earthquakes of shallow to intermediate depth.

The plate boundary offshore of Colombia is also characterized by convergence, where the Nazca plate subducts beneath South America towards the east at a rate of approximately 65 mm/yr. The January 31, 1906 M8.5 earthquake occurred on the shallowly dipping megathrust interface of this plate boundary segment. Along the western coast of Central America, the Cocos plate subducts towards the east beneath the Caribbean plate at the Middle America Trench. Convergence rates vary between 72-81 mm/yr, decreasing towards the north. This subduction results in relatively high rates of seismicity and a chain of numerous active volcanoes; intermediate-focus earthquakes occur within the subducted Cocos plate to depths of nearly 300 km. Since 1900, there have been many moderately sized intermediate-depth earthquakes in this region, including the September 7, 1915 M7.4 El Salvador and the October 5, 1950 M7.8 Costa Rica events.

The boundary between the Cocos and Nazca plates is characterized by a series of north-south trending transform faults and east-west trending spreading centers. The largest and most seismically active of these transform boundaries is the Panama Fracture Zone. The Panama Fracture Zone terminates in the south at the Galapagos rift zone and in the north at the Middle America trench, where it forms part of the Cocos-Nazca-Caribbean triple junction. Earthquakes along the Panama Fracture Zone are generally shallow, low- to intermediate in magnitude (Magnitude less than 7.2) and are characteristically right-lateral strike-slip faulting earthquakes. Since 1900, the largest earthquake to occur along the Panama Fracture Zone was the July 26, 1962 M7.2 earthquake.

References for the Panama Fracture Zone:
Molnar, P., and Sykes, L. R., 1969, Tectonics of the Caribbean and Middle America Regions from Focal Mechanisms and Seismicity: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 80, p. 1639-1684.

- New Zealand Herald | USGS.

PLANETARY TREMORS: Powerful 6.5 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off The Coast Of Nicaragua!

June 17, 2013 - NICARAGUA - A 6.5-magnitude earthquake jolted several towns along Nicaragua's Pacific coast on Saturday, rattling buildings but causing only minor damage.

The earthquake struck at 11.34am (1734 GMT), 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of the capital Managua  in the Pacific at a depth of 36 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.

USGS earthquake location.

Nicaragua said it was followed by about 10 aftershocks measuring between 3.6 and 5.3 in magnitude.

An 81-year-old man was the only reported casualty. He died of cardiac arrest, apparently succumbing to the temblor that lasted several seconds, according to the president of the national disaster response agency, SINAPRED, Guillermo Gonzalez.

He said some buildings suffered cracks, including the offices of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade.

Seismologist Angelica Munoz said the quake was powerful and felt almost throughout the country, and there could be more aftershocks.

In the city of Leon, 90 kilometers northwest of Managua, the dome of a church was damaged.

USGS earthquake shakemap location.

People said objects fell to the ground in the capital. Cell phone service and Internet access were knocked out for a few minutes.

At least six houses suffered cracks on their walls after the first tremor, according to the authorities.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a destructive widespread tsunami, but there could be smaller localized ones.

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake in Managua in December 1972 killed 5,000 people and left more than a quarter million homeless. - Hindustan Times.

Tectonic Summary - Seismotectonics of the Caribbean Region and Vicinity.

Extensive diversity and complexity of tectonic regimes characterizes the perimeter of the Caribbean plate, involving no fewer than four major plates (North America, South America, Nazca, and Cocos). Inclined zones of deep earthquakes (Wadati-Benioff zones), ocean trenches, and arcs of volcanoes clearly indicate subduction of oceanic lithosphere along the Central American and Atlantic Ocean margins of the Caribbean plate, while crustal seismicity in Guatemala, northern Venezuela, and the Cayman Ridge and Cayman Trench indicate transform fault and pull-apart basin tectonics.

Along the northern margin of the Caribbean plate, the North America plate moves westwards with respect to the Caribbean plate at a velocity of approximately 20 mm/yr. Motion is accommodated along several major transform faults that extend eastward from Isla de Roatan to Haiti, including the Swan Island Fault and the Oriente Fault. These faults represent the southern and northern boundaries of the Cayman Trench. Further east, from the Dominican Republic to the Island of Barbuda, relative motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate becomes increasingly complex and is partially accommodated by nearly arc-parallel subduction of the North America plate beneath the Caribbean plate. This results in the formation of the deep Puerto Rico Trench and a zone of intermediate focus earthquakes (70-300 km depth) within the subducted slab. Although the Puerto Rico subduction zone is thought to be capable of generating a megathrust earthquake, there have been no such events in the past century. The last probable interplate (thrust fault) event here occurred on May 2, 1787 and was widely felt throughout the island with documented destruction across the entire northern coast, including Arecibo and San Juan. Since 1900, the two largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the August 4, 1946 M8.0 Samana earthquake in northeastern Hispaniola and the July 29, 1943 M7.6 Mona Passage earthquake, both of which were shallow thrust fault earthquakes. A significant portion of the motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate in this region is accommodated by a series of left-lateral strike-slip faults that bisect the island of Hispaniola, notably the Septentrional Fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault in the south. Activity adjacent to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault system is best documented by the devastating January 12, 2010 M7.0 Haiti strike-slip earthquake, its associated aftershocks and a comparable earthquake in 1770.

USGS plate tectonics for the region.

Moving east and south, the plate boundary curves around Puerto Rico and the northern Lesser Antilles where the plate motion vector of the Caribbean plate relative to the North and South America plates is less oblique, resulting in active island-arc tectonics. Here, the North and South America plates subduct towards the west beneath the Caribbean plate along the Lesser Antilles Trench at rates of approximately 20 mm/yr. As a result of this subduction, there exists both intermediate focus earthquakes within the subducted plates and a chain of active volcanoes along the island arc. Although the Lesser Antilles is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the Caribbean, few of these events have been greater than M7.0 over the past century. The island of Guadeloupe was the site of one of the largest megathrust earthquakes to occur in this region on February 8, 1843, with a suggested magnitude greater than 8.0. The largest recent intermediate-depth earthquake to occur along the Lesser Antilles arc was the November 29, 2007 M7.4 Martinique earthquake northwest of Fort-De-France.

The southern Caribbean plate boundary with the South America plate strikes east-west across Trinidad and western Venezuela at a relative rate of approximately 20 mm/yr. This boundary is characterized by major transform faults, including the Central Range Fault and the Boconó-San Sebastian-El Pilar Faults, and shallow seismicity. Since 1900, the largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the October 29, 1900 M7.7 Caracas earthquake, and the July 29, 1967 M6.5 earthquake near this same region. Further to the west, a broad zone of compressive deformation trends southwestward across western Venezuela and central Columbia. The plate boundary is not well defined across northwestern South America, but deformation transitions from being dominated by Caribbean/South America convergence in the east to Nazca/South America convergence in the west. The transition zone between subduction on the eastern and western margins of the Caribbean plate is characterized by diffuse seismicity involving low- to intermediate-magnitude (Magnitude less than 6.0) earthquakes of shallow to intermediate depth.

The plate boundary offshore of Colombia is also characterized by convergence, where the Nazca plate subducts beneath South America towards the east at a rate of approximately 65 mm/yr. The January 31, 1906 M8.5 earthquake occurred on the shallowly dipping megathrust interface of this plate boundary segment. Along the western coast of Central America, the Cocos plate subducts towards the east beneath the Caribbean plate at the Middle America Trench. Convergence rates vary between 72-81 mm/yr, decreasing towards the north. This subduction results in relatively high rates of seismicity and a chain of numerous active volcanoes; intermediate-focus earthquakes occur within the subducted Cocos plate to depths of nearly 300 km. Since 1900, there have been many moderately sized intermediate-depth earthquakes in this region, including the September 7, 1915 M7.4 El Salvador and the October 5, 1950 M7.8 Costa Rica events.

The boundary between the Cocos and Nazca plates is characterized by a series of north-south trending transform faults and east-west trending spreading centers. The largest and most seismically active of these transform boundaries is the Panama Fracture Zone. The Panama Fracture Zone terminates in the south at the Galapagos rift zone and in the north at the Middle America trench, where it forms part of the Cocos-Nazca-Caribbean triple junction. Earthquakes along the Panama Fracture Zone are generally shallow, low- to intermediate in magnitude (Magnitude less than 7.2) and are characteristically right-lateral strike-slip faulting earthquakes. Since 1900, the largest earthquake to occur along the Panama Fracture Zone was the July 26, 1962 M7.2 earthquake.

References for the Panama Fracture Zone:
Molnar, P., and Sykes, L. R., 1969, Tectonics of the Caribbean and Middle America Regions from Focal Mechanisms and Seismicity: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 80, p. 1639-1684. - USGS.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Scientists Image Deep Magma Beneath Pacific Seafloor Volcano - Huge Reservoir Of Magma Under Pacific And Cocos Plates!

March 28, 2013 - PACIFIC OCEAN - Since the plate tectonics revolution of the 1960s, scientists have known that new seafloor is created throughout the major ocean basins at linear chains of volcanoes known as mid-ocean ridges. But where exactly does the erupted magma come from?

Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego now have a better idea after capturing a unique image of a site deep in the Earth where magma is generated.

Using electromagnetic technology developed and advanced at Scripps, the researchers mapped a large area beneath the seafloor off Central America at the northern East Pacific Rise, a seafloor volcano located on a section of the global mid-ocean ridges that together form the largest and most active chain of volcanoes in the solar system. By comparison, the researchers say the cross-section area of the melting region they mapped would rival the size of San Diego County.

The deep melting region where magma is generated in the mantle beneath the mid-ocean ridge volcano. Green to red colors show regions of partially molten material created by upwelling due to the divergence of the Pacific and Cocos tectonic plates. This image was made by analyzing data collected by an array of seafloor electromagnetic instruments, shown as inverted triangles. Shaded colors in the upper panel show the seafloor topography around the survey region. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of California - San Diego).

Details of the image and the methods used to capture it are published in the March 28 issue of the journal Nature.

"Our data show that mantle upwelling beneath the mid-ocean ridge creates a deeper and broader melting region than previously thought," said Kerry Key, lead author of the study and an associate research geophysicist at Scripps. "This was the largest project of its kind, enabling us to image the mantle with a level of detail not possible with previous studies."

The northern East Pacific Rise is an area where two of the planet's tectonic plates are spreading apart from each another. Mantle rising between the plates melts to generate the magma that forms fresh seafloor when it erupts or freezes in the crust.

Data for the study was obtained during a 2004 field study conducted aboard the research vessel Roger Revelle, a ship operated by Scripps and owned by the U.S. Navy.

The marine electromagnetic technology behind the study was originally developed in the 1960s by Charles "Chip" Cox, an emeritus professor of oceanography at Scripps, and his student Jean Filloux. In recent years the technology was further advanced by Steven Constable and Key. Since 1995 Scripps researchers have been working with the energy industry to apply this technology to map offshore geology as an aid to exploring for oil and gas reservoirs.

"We have been working on developing our instruments and interpretation software for decades, and it is really exciting to see it all come together to provide insights into the fundamental processes of plate tectonics," said Constable, a coauthor of the paper and a professor in the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Scripps. "It was really a surprise to discover that melting started so deep in the mantle -- much deeper than was expected."

Key believes the insights that electromagnetics provides will continue to grow as the technology matures and data analysis techniques improve (last week Key and his colleagues announced the use of electromagnetics in discovering a magma lubricant for the planet's tectonic plates).

"Electromagnetics is really coming of age as a tool for imaging the earth," said Key. "Much of what we know about the crust and mantle is a result of using seismic techniques. Now electromagnetic technology is offering promise for further discoveries."

Key also has future plans to apply electromagnetic technology to map subglacial lakes and groundwater in the polar regions.

In addition to Key and Constable, coauthors of the paper include Lijun Liu of the University of Illinois and Anne Pommier of Arizona State University.

The study was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Seafloor Electromagnetic Methods Consortium at Scripps. - Science Daily.

PLANETARY TREMORS: 4.8 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Trinidad & Tobago!

March 25, 2013 - TRINIDAD & TOBAGO - The United States Geological Survey is reporting that a magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Northeast of Roxborough in Trinidad and Tobago earlier this afternoon.

USGS earthquake map and location.

The quake was 81km Northeast of Roxborough and had a depth of 46km.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injury.

USGS earthquake shakemap intensity.

USGS earthquake - Magnitude 4.9 in the Central Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The earthquake follows this morning's 4.9 magnitude quake which struck east of Grenada at 1:28 am. - OG.

Tectonic Summary - Seismotectonics Of The Caribbean Region And Vicinity.

Extensive diversity and complexity of tectonic regimes characterizes the perimeter of the Caribbean plate, involving no fewer than four major plates (North America, South America, Nazca, and Cocos). Inclined zones of deep earthquakes (Wadati-Benioff zones), ocean trenches, and arcs of volcanoes clearly indicate subduction of oceanic lithosphere along the Central American and Atlantic Ocean margins of the Caribbean plate, while crustal seismicity in Guatemala, northern Venezuela, and the Cayman Ridge and Cayman Trench indicate transform fault and pull-apart basin tectonics.

Along the northern margin of the Caribbean plate, the North America plate moves westwards with respect to the Caribbean plate at a velocity of approximately 20 mm/yr. Motion is accommodated along several major transform faults that extend eastward from Isla de Roatan to Haiti, including the Swan Island Fault and the Oriente Fault. These faults represent the southern and northern boundaries of the Cayman Trench. Further east, from the Dominican Republic to the Island of Barbuda, relative motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate becomes increasingly complex and is partially accommodated by nearly arc-parallel subduction of the North America plate beneath the Caribbean plate. This results in the formation of the deep Puerto Rico Trench and a zone of intermediate focus earthquakes (70-300 km depth) within the subducted slab. Although the Puerto Rico subduction zone is thought to be capable of generating a megathrust earthquake, there have been no such events in the past century. The last probable interplate (thrust fault) event here occurred on May 2, 1787 and was widely felt throughout the island with documented destruction across the entire northern coast, including Arecibo and San Juan. Since 1900, the two largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the August 4, 1946 M8.0 Samana earthquake in northeastern Hispaniola and the July 29, 1943 M7.6 Mona Passage earthquake, both of which were shallow thrust fault earthquakes. A significant portion of the motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate in this region is accommodated by a series of left-lateral strike-slip faults that bisect the island of Hispaniola, notably the Septentrional Fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault in the south. Activity adjacent to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault system is best documented by the devastating January 12, 2010 M7.0 Haiti strike-slip earthquake, its associated aftershocks and a comparable earthquake in 1770.

USGS earthquake historic seismicity.

Moving east and south, the plate boundary curves around Puerto Rico and the northern Lesser Antilles where the plate motion vector of the Caribbean plate relative to the North and South America plates is less oblique, resulting in active island-arc tectonics. Here, the North and South America plates subduct towards the west beneath the Caribbean plate along the Lesser Antilles Trench at rates of approximately 20 mm/yr. As a result of this subduction, there exists both intermediate focus earthquakes within the subducted plates and a chain of active volcanoes along the island arc. Although the Lesser Antilles is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the Caribbean, few of these events have been greater than M7.0 over the past century. The island of Guadeloupe was the site of one of the largest megathrust earthquakes to occur in this region on February 8, 1843, with a suggested magnitude greater than 8.0. The largest recent intermediate-depth earthquake to occur along the Lesser Antilles arc was the November 29, 2007 M7.4 Martinique earthquake northwest of Fort-De-France.

The southern Caribbean plate boundary with the South America plate strikes east-west across Trinidad and western Venezuela at a relative rate of approximately 20 mm/yr. This boundary is characterized by major transform faults, including the Central Range Fault and the Boconó-San Sebastian-El Pilar Faults, and shallow seismicity. Since 1900, the largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the October 29, 1900 M7.7 Caracas earthquake, and the July 29, 1967 M6.5 earthquake near this same region. Further to the west, a broad zone of compressive deformation trends southwestward across western Venezuela and central Columbia. The plate boundary is not well defined across northwestern South America, but deformation transitions from being dominated by Caribbean/South America convergence in the east to Nazca/South America convergence in the west. The transition zone between subduction on the eastern and western margins of the Caribbean plate is characterized by diffuse seismicity involving low- to intermediate-magnitude (Magnitude less than 6.0) earthquakes of shallow to intermediate depth.

The plate boundary offshore of Colombia is also characterized by convergence, where the Nazca plate subducts beneath South America towards the east at a rate of approximately 65 mm/yr. The January 31, 1906 M8.5 earthquake occurred on the shallowly dipping megathrust interface of this plate boundary segment. Along the western coast of Central America, the Cocos plate subducts towards the east beneath the Caribbean plate at the Middle America Trench. Convergence rates vary between 72-81 mm/yr, decreasing towards the north. This subduction results in relatively high rates of seismicity and a chain of numerous active volcanoes; intermediate-focus earthquakes occur within the subducted Cocos plate to depths of nearly 300 km. Since 1900, there have been many moderately sized intermediate-depth earthquakes in this region, including the September 7, 1915 M7.4 El Salvador and the October 5, 1950 M7.8 Costa Rica events.

The boundary between the Cocos and Nazca plates is characterized by a series of north-south trending transform faults and east-west trending spreading centers. The largest and most seismically active of these transform boundaries is the Panama Fracture Zone. The Panama Fracture Zone terminates in the south at the Galapagos rift zone and in the north at the Middle America trench, where it forms part of the Cocos-Nazca-Caribbean triple junction. Earthquakes along the Panama Fracture Zone are generally shallow, low- to intermediate in magnitude (Magnitude less than 7.2) and are characteristically right-lateral strike-slip faulting earthquakes. Since 1900, the largest earthquake to occur along the Panama Fracture Zone was the July 26, 1962 M7.2 earthquake. - USGS.

PLANETARY TREMORS: Tectonic Plates Moving Again - Will South America Split Away From Central America?

March 05, 2013 - EARTH - One of the expectations of Earth Change researchers is that with the evidence of the folding of the tectonic plates under the Pacific Ocean and the collapsing or subduction of the Western Regions of the Ring of fire in the Far East, that these collapsing plates will eventually pull the Northern Regions of South America to the west into the Pacific Ocean and tear away South America from Central America.

Earthquakes heralding the Collapsing of the Nazca and the Cocos Plates along the Western Coastline of South America

Recently it was noticed that the buoys along the Cocos and the Nazca Plates were deactivated. At the same time the earthquakes along the eastern regions of those same plates that were jutting up against South America along the Andes, from the tip of South America upwards to Peru were increasing exponentially. As the South American coastline is being pulled over the Nazca Plate, what has been called the “South American Roll” has been activating earthquakes that would have been noticed by the buoys rising or collapsing with the rolling earthquakes are now silent. It would be expected that the officials in charge of the buoys deployment and activation would hesitate to let the southern continent know about the devastation that will soon come their way.

The Scenic and Majestic South Andes Mountain Range

The evidence of such cataclysmic changes in our earth’s continental plates was highlighted in an earthquake on February 6, 2013 in Santa Cruz that was following a few days later by a much larger 7.0 earthquake in southwestern Columbia in the province of Narino. It was felt 240 miles away in the Columbian capital of Bogata, Columbia. Hours later a string of quakes raced up and down the mountainous spine of the Andes.

The Earthquake at the Narino Region to the Southwest of Bogata, Columbia

This triggered a second series of quakes on the eastern edge of the South American Plate, where it buts up against the Atlantic Rift and a third series of quakes along the Northern South American regions where the edge of the continental plate joins together with the Caribbean Plate. With the searing of South America from Central America, the once-greatest engineering feat in the world, the Panama Canal with be torn asunder. It will be essentially useless anyway as a waterway from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean will be created as the Americas will no longer be united.

The Ancient Land Bridge from Florida to South America

These catastrophic tectonic changes will crumble the “Switzerland of the Americas” as Costa Rica; a recent mountainous upheaval will collapse and crumble. Nearby the once ancient land bridge from Florida to South America will sink in a new subduction zone, and the island nations of the Caribbean Ocean may cease to exist. “The former land bridge from Florida to South America that once provided a direct land mass or land bridge from North America to South America, in ancient years, is now a multitude of island paradises for travelers. Soon they may be no more as the islands may sink and disappear into the sea trenches below. Then we will begin to witness: The Southern Mid- Atlantic Rift is projected to begin separating, as it tears and rips apart. With the ripping of the Southern Mid-Atlantic Rift, the Atlantic Ocean will rapidly plunge into the ensuing chasms creating a tsunami that may encircle the South Atlantic regions; the western coastline of Africa to the east and the eastern coastline of South America to the west. Déjà Vu Christmas 2004 when almost 250,000 people perished on the coastlines of the nations surrounding the Indian Ocean as the Sumatra-Indian Ocean Tsunami awakened the world to a new devastating awareness of our fragile lives on Planet Earth.

Christmas 2004 Indian Ocean-Indonesian Tsunami

As the Continent of Africa rolls and Planet Earth reels under possibly a global earthquake, the populations of the world may soon rivet their attention again towards the Mediterranean region of the world. The Mediterranean Sea in the days of the antediluvians was known as the Valley or the Veil of the River of Styx. In the depths of the Sea are over 300 megalithic sites of ancient cities submerged within its waters; a testimony of the antediluvian world in the days of Noah. Once again the tectonic plates may again shift, collapse in part as the volcanoes on the Italia peninsula and the Island of Thera may once again erupt with its fullest fury as it may have done at the time of the Biblical Exodus. It is believed that the floor of the Mediterranean may sink and reestablish a new tectonic bottom. The Mediterranean’s antipode site on the opposite side of the world from the Italian Volcano Pelea is the famous and feared San Andreas Fault famous for destroying San Francisco in the year of 1906. It will become more unstable heralding the “Big One” for California’s projected new island kingdom separated from North America by an inland sea. - Destination Yisrael.

PLANETARY TREMORS: Strong Magnitude 6.6 Quake Strikes Off Panama's Pacific Coast!

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck on Sunday in the Pacific Ocean south of Panama, but there was no risk of a massive tsunami, US seismologists said. 

The quake struck at 6:45am at a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles), the US Geological Survey said. The epicenter was located 370 kilometers (230 miles) south of the Panamanian city of David.  There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.  The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said "no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists," but warned that quakes of a similar magnitude can "sometimes generate local tsunamis in coastal areas near the epicentre.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), extensive diversity of tectonic regimes characterizes the perimeter of the Caribbean plate, involving no fewer than four major adjacent plates (North America, South America, Nazca, and Cocos). Inclined zones of deep earthquakes (Wadati-Benioff zones), deep ocean trenches, and arcs of volcanoes clearly indicate subduction of oceanic lithosphere along the Central American and Atlantic Ocean margins of the Caribbean plate, while shallow seismicity and focal mechanisms of major shocks in Guatemala, northern Venezuela, and the Cayman Ridge and Cayman Trench indicate transform fault and pull-apart basin tectonics. Along the northern margin of the Caribbean plate, the North America moves west, relative to the Caribbean plate, at approximately 20 mm/yr, resulting in major transcurrent faults and troughs. Farther east, the North America plate subducts beneath the Caribbean plate resulting in surface expression of the deep Puerto Rico Trench and a zone of intermediate focus earthquakes in the subducted slab. The plate boundary curves around Puerto Rico and the northern Lesser Antilles where the plate motion vector of the Caribbean plate relative to the North and South America plates is less oblique, resulting in active island-arc tectonics. The North and South America plates subduct beneath the Caribbean plate along the Lesser Antilles Trench at rates of about 20 mm/yr; consequently, there are both intermediate focus earthquakes within the subducted South America plate and a chain of active volcanoes along the island arc.

The southern Caribbean plate boundary along with the South America plate strikes east-west across Trinidad and western Venezuela and is characterized by major strike-slip faults and shallow seismicity, resulting from relative plate motion of about 20 mm/yr. Further to the west, a broad zone of convergent deformation trends southwest across western Venezuela and central Columbia. Plate boundaries are not well defined across northern South America, but there is a transition from Caribbean/South America convergence in the east to Nazca/South America convergence in the west, described in more detail below. The transition zone is characterized by high seismic hazard. The Nazca-Caribbean plate boundary offshore of Columbia is characterized by convergence (Nazca plate subducting under South America plate) at about 65 mm/yr. The 6 January 1906 Mw = 8.5 megathrust subduction earthquake occurred on a shallow-dipping interface of this plate boundary segment. Along the western coast of Central America, the Cocos plate subducts beneath the Caribbean plate at rates of 72?81 mm/yr, resulting in a relatively high seismic hazard and a chain of numerous active volcanoes; here intermediate-focus earthquakes occur within the subducted Cocos plate to depths of nearly 300 km.


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