Why Mexico Is So Prone to Strong Earthquakes<br />This Cascadia subduction zone last generated a magnitude-9.0 earthquake in the Pacific Northwest in 1700, and based on what we know about the frequency of such quakes, Dr. Hayes said<br />that another one of similar strength could occur any day now<br />The subduction zone responsible for the two recent quakes runs along the western coast of Central America, from<br />Central Mexico to Panama, said Gavin Hayes, a research geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey.<br />Typically, about one quake of magnitude 8 or higher occurs somewhere in the world every<br />year; there are about a dozen quakes of magnitude 7 or higher annually, Dr. Hayes said.<br />Both earthquakes that struck Mexico this month occurred within the sinking Cocos Plate, rather than between the Cocos Plate and the North American.<br />In Mexico’s case, an oceanic plate — the Cocos — is gradually sinking beneath a continental plate — the North American.
