U.S.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

OPEN-FILE REPORT 20101083-A

Revised September, 2011

Seismicity of the Earth 19002010

TECTONIC SUMMARY

Caribbean Plate and Vicinity

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.

Compiled by Harley M. Benz, 1 Arthur C. Tarr, 1 Gavin P. Hayes, 1 Antonio Villaseor, 2 Kevin P. Furlong, 2 Richard L. Dart, 1 and Susan Rhea 1

2011
1

U.S. Geological Survey

Institute of Earth Sciences, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
3
Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802 USA

The depth profile panels on this map portray earthquakes that extend from the Middle America Trench axis in the west to depths as
great as 300 km beneath Guatemala, and from the Lesser Antilles Trench axis in the east to depths of approximately 200 km beneath
Guadeloupe and the northeast Caribbean. In contrast, seismicity along the segments of the Caribbean plate margins from Guatemala
to Hispaniola and from Trinidad to western Venezuela is indicative of transform fault tectonics.

Caicos Is. (U.K.)

0
Isla de la
Juventud

in

Villahermosa

A'

ge

JAMAICA

Managua

30

gh

id

to

ta
a
e
B

ge
er

Ma

Ri
dg
e

ST

D' C l a r k
RI

Basin

C A 1991
V

ca

ol

om

bi

as

NETHERLANDS
ANTILLES

Aruba (Neth.)

an

Bonaire

Islas
Los Roques
(Venez.)

Curaao
Golfo de
Ve n e z u e l a

1900

Cartagena

Valencia
Barquisimeto

S T. L U C I A

St. Lucia
St. Vincent

E
The Grenadines

1983

Isla Blanquilla
(Venez.)

Isla La Tortuga
(Venez.)

Isla de
Margarita
(Venez.)

The earthquakes portrayed on the main map and the depth profiles are taken from two sources: (a) the Centennial earthquake catalog
(Engdahl and Villaseor, 2002) and annual supplements for the interval 19002007, where the magnitude floor is 5.5 globally, and (b)
a catalog of earthquakes having high-quality depth determinations for the period 19642002 and a magnitude range of 5.0M5.4
(Engdahl, personal commun., 2009.)

15

The nucleation points of great earthquakes (M8.3) are designated with a label showing the year of occurrence. Their rupture areas
are shown as pale reddish polygons. Major earthquakes (7.5M8.2) are labeled with the year of occurrence, while earthquakes
(8.0M8.2) are labeled with the year of occurrence and also denoted by a white outline (Tarr and others, 2010).
The Seismic Hazard and Relative Plate Motion map displays the generalized seismic hazard of the region (Giardini and others, 1999) and
representative relative plate motion vectors of the Caribbean plate relative to the adjacent North and South America plates using the
NUVEL1A model (DeMets and others, 1994, 2000) and updates (Dixon and others, 1998; Weber and others, 2001).

Tobago

Pre-instrumental seismicity for the Caribbean basin was obtained from the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (2010) database
of significant earthquakes; locations are approximate, based on macro-seismic reports and field investigations. We selected
earthquakes with associated reports of moderate to major damage, 10 or more deaths, an estimated magnitude of 7.5 or greater (if
known), Modified Mercalli Intensities X, or tsunami generation.

TRINIDAD AND
TOBAGO

Caracas
Maracay

E'

Tr i n i d a d
E

-500

-400

-300

10
-200

Panama

-100

E'

Base map data sources include GEBCO 2008, Volcanoes of the World dataset (Siebert and Simkin, 2002), plate boundaries (Bird,
2003), Digital Chart of the World (1992), and Environmental Sciences Research Institute (ESRI, 2002). Slab contours are from Hayes and Wald
(2010).

TRENCH AXIS

Bahia de Panam

Arch. de las
Perlas
I. del Rey

REFERENCES

Golfo de Chiriqui

BARBADOS

Barbados

Maracaibo

PA N A M A

in

DATA SOURCES

GRENADA

Grenada

Isla
Orchilla
(Venez.)

Lago de

Golfo de Los
Mosquitos

1934 I. Coiba
I. de Coiba

Golfo de Panam

-100

VENEZUELA

Cucuta

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, Effects of recent revisions to the geomagnetic time scale on estimates of current
plate motions: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 21, p. 21912194.
DeMets, Charles, Jansma, P.E., Mattioli, G.S., Dixon, T.H., Farina, F., Bilham, R., Calais, E., and Mann, P., 2000, GPS geodetic constraints on
CaribbeanNorth America plate motion: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 27, p. 437440.
Dixon, T.H., Farina, F., DeMets, Charles, Jansma, P., Mann, P., and Calais, E., 1998, Relative motion between the Caribbean and North American
plates and related boundary zone deformation from a decade of GPS observations: Journal of Geophysical Research, 103(B7),
p. 1515715182.
Engdahl, E.R., and Villaseor, Antonio, 2002, Global seismicity 19001999, in Lee, W.H.K., Jennings, P., Kisslinger, Carl, and Kanamori, Hiroo, eds,
International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, v. 81(A), chap. 41, p. 126.
GEBCO, 2008, The GEBCO_08_Grid, ver. 20091120, http://www.gebco.net/, last accessed January 8, 2010.
Giardini, D., Grnthal, G., Shedlock, K., Zhang, P., and Global Seismic Hazards Program, 1999, Global Seismic Hazards Map,
http://seismo.ethz.ch/GSHAP, last accessed January 9, 2007.
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/.
Kanamori, Hiroo, and McNally, K.C., 1982, Variable rupture mode of the subduction zone along the Ecuador-Colombia coast: Bulletin of the
Seismological Society of America, v. 72, no. 4, p. 12411253.
NOAA, 2010, National Geophysical Data Center: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, accessed on March 31, 2010 at
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazards.
Okal, E.A., 1992, Use of the mantle magnitude Mm for the reassessment of the moment of historical earthquakes: Pure and Applied Geophysics,
v. 139, no.1, p. 1757.
Siebert, Lee, and Simkin, Thomas, 2002, Volcanoes of the world: An illustrated catalog of Holocene volcanoes and their eruptions: Smithsonian
Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information series, GVP3, http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/, last accessed January 9, 2007.
Tarr, A.C., Villaseor, Antonio, Furlong, K.P., Rhea, Susan, and Benz, H.M., and 2010, Seismicity of the earth 19002007: U.S. Geological Survey
Scientific Investigations Map 3064, scale 1:25,000,000.
Weber, J.C., Dixon, T.H., DeMets, Charles, Ambeh, W.B., Jansma, Pamela, Mattinoli, Glen, Saleh, Jarir, Sella, Giovanni, Bilham, Roger, and
Prez, Omar, 2001, GPS estimate of relative motion between the Caribbean and South American plates, and geologic implications for Trinidad
and Venezuela: Geology, v. 29, no. 1, p. 7578.

Bucaramanga

-200

Isla del Coco

(Costa Rica)

O C E A N

Medellin

West Cocos
Seamount

-300

G U YA N A

Panama

Manizales

Bogota

SURINAME

Magnitude classes

Ibague

id

MAP EXPLANATION

Basin

PROFILE E

Ridge

PA C I F I C

Coiba

ua

Martinique
(France)

Maracaibo

Fisher
Seamount

-200

THE GRENADINES

Barranquilla

Guardian Seamount

gs

CO

DOMINICA

I. del Maiz Grande

de a
go gu
La ara
c
Ni

10

Isla de San Andres

1992

-100

m
ta

in

rin

NICARAGUA

10

al

e R
idg
e

.
Z
Te
ha
un
te
pe
c

Su
Fo

Marie-Galante

Dominica

Along the western coast of Central America, the Cocos plate subducts beneath the Caribbean plate at rates of 7281 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.

F'

Guadeloupe
(France)

S T. V I N C E N T A N D

in

PROFILE F
-200

ENC
S TR

e
od

Basin

Isla de Providencia

as

Venezuela

ca
nse

50

-300

S e a

BARBUDA

Antigua
Montserrat (U.K.)

TILLE

B'

PROFILE B

LE
SS
ER

ANTIGUA AND

St. Kitt's
Le
e Nevis

AN

lf
Go

TRENCH AXIS

MUERTOS TROUGH

-100

Barbuda

S T. K I T T ' S
AND NEVIS

DO

2001

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 January 6, 1906 Mw = 8.5 megathrust subduction earthquake occurred on a shallow-dipping
interface of this plate boundary segment. The 1906 earthquake occurred in the Colombia-Ecuador region, with a seismic moment
(Mo; equivalent to radiated energy) of 610 Exp 28 dyne-cm (Okal, 1992), and a moment magnitude (Mw) of 8.5 (Tarr and others,
2010). The nucleation point of this earthquake is indicated on the map (rupture area is from Kanamori and McNally, 1982).

SE

San Salvador

AM
ER
IC
A

LVA

F'

SA

U.S. VIRGIN
(U.S.)

Vieques (U.S.)I S L A N D S
St. Croix

ard Islands
Woodw

EL

-100

St. Martin
(France & Neth. Antilles)

S
TILLE

1942

200

-200

TRENCH AXIS

re
b
Anguilla (U.K.)

Cayos Miskitos

Tegucigalpa

TR
EN
B
CH

400

C'

Mona I.

-300

ugh

1902

PUERTO RICO (U.S.)

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.

LE

nk

HONDURAS

1950

100

Tro

n ds

Ba

Guatemala City

C a r ib b e a n

Lightning Bank

15

ro

sla

San Pedro Sula

B'

BRITISH
VIRGIN
ISLANDS (U.K.)

I
rd

lin

G U AT E M A L A

Alice
Shoal

Serra ni l l a
Ban k

50

Santo Domingo

1943

wa

sa

1976

300

dr o Ba nk

la

ANTI
LL
ES

an

Ro

20

Isla de la
Roatn

Gulf of
Honduras

B'

A ID
D
LE

Pe

anio

Turneffe Is.

1902

200

Kingston

Hisp

Port-au-Prince

BELIZE

Tuxtla Gutierrez

100

GR
EA
TE

1946

DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC

EA

20

s R
idge

Rid

HAITI

le de la
Gonve

Papagayo

Yu

Ca

n
ma

Tr

ca

ta

Campeche

OC

PUERTO RICO TRENCH

1946

ma

Grand Cayman I.

G'

Navidad
h
Bank

Yu

as

(U.K.)

o f

MEXICO

iola T
roug

C AY M A N I S .

B a y

Veracruz

Hispan
Santiago De Cuba

20 A
PROFILE

-300

Silver
Bank

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.

IC

Isla Cozumel

-200

R e in

ou

e la

Tr

sd

NT

PROFILE G

-200

na

ne

gh

rd
i

ou

Merida

Turks Island

Grand Inagua
Island

Mo

-100

CAICOS IS. (U.K.)

Caicos
Bank

CUBA

LA

-100

TURKS AND

Ja

AT

Mayaguana I.

Acklins I.

Cayo Romano

Ridge

Campeche Bank

TRENCH AXIS

Along the northern margin of the Caribbean plate, the North America plate 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.

TRENCH AXIS

os

G'

Barbad

-100

B asin

Crooked I.

-200

To b a g o

A'

an

Isl BAHAMAS
an
ds

Basin

400

G -300

ma

300

ha

Granad

200

Long I.

Aves Ridge

100

Havana

Great Exuma
am

Rid

M e x i c o

ah

60

o f

. de
Ca
ma
g

65

70

Ba

G u l f

Arch

75
g

Mexico Basin

80

85

90

95

Nucleation points

lo

EN

e
lp

C -100

100

200

300

C'

TRENCH AXIS

0
0

Isla Isabela

-200

IA

1979

50 km

7.6

100

7.7

200

7.8

300

1906 1958

600

7.9

Isla Pinta
Isla Marchena

Plate boundaries
8.0

1942
Isla San Salvador
Isla Santa Cruz
Isla San Cristbal

Isla Santa Maria

Mean slab depth

7.5

CO

Isla Fernandina

-100

Active volcanoes

77.4

Isla
Wenman

Galapagos Islands
(Archipilago de Coln)
(Ecuador)

6.56.9

COLOMBIA

MB

Ridge
Isla
Culpepper

Cali

LO

Coln

Medina
Seamount

Rupture zones

66.4

TR

a
M
Paramount
Seamount

45.9

Quito

Subduction

8.1

Transform

8.2

Convergent

Divergent

dg
Carnegie Ri

Isla Espaola

ECUADOR

BRAZIL

Inferred

Depth of focus
069 km

PROFILE C

D -100

100

200

Guayaquil

Algol
Seamount

PERU

90

100

0
95

300700 km

600

TRENCH AXIS

SEISMIC HAZARD AND RELATIVE PLATE MOTION

70299 km

70

60

65

Manuscript approved for publication Nov. 16, 2011

Scale 1:8,000,000

069 km

66.4

70299 km

6.56.9

300700 km

77.4

Nucleation points
of M>8.3 events

7.5
7.6
7.7
7.8
7.9
8.0

Active volcanoes

Earth structure
Air
Crust
Upper mantle
Transition zone

8.1
8.2

Lower mantle

-100
100

300

400

500

600

700

85

75

80

-300
-400
-500
-600
-700

1842

PROFILE X

DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC

10

HAITI

This and other USGS information products are

available at
http://store.usgs.gov/.
U.S. Geological Survey
Box 25286, Denver Federal Center
Denver, CO 80225
To learn about the USGS and its information products visit
http://www.usgs.gov/.
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This report is available at:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1083/a

1692

15

HONDURAS

Or visit Geologic Hazards Science Center Web site at:

http://geohazards.cr.usgs.gov/

HONDURAS

0.20.4
0.81.6
1.63.2

CARIBBEAN PLATE

Deaths (yr)
72.6

3.26.4
6.49.8

NICARAGUA

20.0

Relative plate motion

20.0

81.2

10

COSTA RICA

VENEZUELA

40.059.9

15

65.0

COCOS PLATE

1788
1831

G U YA N A

NAZCA
PLATE

60.079.9

SOUTH AMERICA PLATE

SUR

80.0100.0

COLUMBIA

1812

Plate boundaries

C O S TA
RICA

Suggested citation:
Benz, H.M., Tarr, A.C., Hayes, G.P., Villaseor, Antonio, Furlong, K.P., Dart,
R.L., and Rhea, Susan, 2011, Seismicity of the Earth 19002010 Caribbean
plate and vicinity: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 20101083-A,
scale 1:8,000,000.

1894
1875
COLOMBIA
1610

PA N A M A

1870

1878

Subduction

10

1797
1853

VENEZUELA

80

75

70

65

Transform
Divergent

BRAZIL

ECUADOR

Convergent
G U YA N A

PERU

1849
85

11.019.9 mm/yr
20.039.9

PA N A M A

NICARAGUA

10

Peak ground acceleration

00.2 m/s

PUERTO
RICO

0.40.8

1897
1839

3 1873
For more information concerning this publication, contact:
Center Director, USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center
Box 25046, Mail Stop 966
Denver, CO 80225
(303) 273-8579

GUATEMALA

10

1843

DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC

20

20.0

Others

1673

1770
BELIZE

20.0

BELIZE

Tsunami

PUERTO
RICO

1780

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

Historical earthquakes

60

Tsunami/deaths (yr)

1766

20

Any use of trade, product or firm names is for

descriptive purposes only and does not imply
endorsement by the U.S. Government.

-200

65

70

JAMAICA

20.0

CUBA

TRENCH AXIS

-100

HAITI

PRE-INSTRUMENTAL SEISMICITY 15001899

800
KILOMETERS

100 200 300 400 500 600

Depth (km)

45.9

200

Distance (km)

Depth of focus

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. 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 and
magnitude, are visible on every map.

100

MEXICO

DEPTH PROFILE EXPLANATION

Magnitude classes

PROFILE D

FIGURE EXPLANATION

20.0

20

Universal Transverse Mercator projection

Digital map database and cartography by Susan Rhea and Art Tarr

60

NORTH AMERICA PLATE

CUBA

75

-100

70

MEXICO

85

90

80

60

90

80

Inferred
70

60