Chiapas, Mexico. Internal Structure. Mantle.

 

Tectonic setting.

Southern Mexico is a very interesting area where the subducting Cocos slab drastically changes its geometry: from a flat slab in Central Mexico to a ~ 45° dip angle beneath Chiapas. Also, the currently active volcanic arc, the modern Chiapanecan volcanic arc, is oblique and situated far inland from the Middle America trench, where the slab depth is ~ 200 km.

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Deep strong earthquake in Chiapas, Mexico. 2017

 

Introduction

The 2017 Chiapas  earthquake struck at 23:49 CDT on 7 September in the Gulf of Tehuantepec off the southern coast of Mexico, near state of Chiapas, approximately 87 kilometres (54 mi) south of Pijijiapan, with a Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).  The magnitude was estimated to be Mw 8.1.
The earthquake caused some buildings in Mexico City to tremble, prompting people to evacuate. It also generated a tsunami with waves of 1.75 metres (5 ft 9 in) above tide level; and tsunami alerts were issued for surrounding areas.  It was also the second strongest recorded in the country’s history, behind the magnitude 8.6 earthquake in 1787, and the most intense recorded globally, so far in 2017.

 

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