2020 Oaxaca earthquake

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2020 Oaxaca earthquake is located in Mexico
2020 Oaxaca earthquake
2020 Oaxaca earthquake (Mexico)
Magnitude 7.4 ṃ
Depth 20.0 km (12.4 mi)
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Type Thrust
Areas affected Mexico, Oaxaca, Mexico City
Max. intensity VII (Very strong)
Casualties 10 dead
23 injured[1]

An earthquake struck the Mexican state of Oaxaca at 10:29 local time on June 23, 2020, with a magnitude of 7.4 ṃ.[2] The epicenter was 19 miles (31 km) from San Miguel del Puerto and 7.5 miles (12.1 km) south-southwest of Santa María Zapotitlán. The quake was felt by an estimated 49 million people in Mexico and Guatemala, with some tremors felt as far away as 640 kilometres (400 mi).[3][4][5] Thousands of houses in Oaxaca were damaged and 10 deaths were reported. A tsunami warning was issued for southern Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.[6]

Tectonic setting

Oaxaca lies above the convergent boundary where the Cocos Plate is being subducted beneath the North American Plate. The rate of convergence in this part of the boundary is 60 mm per year. This boundary is associated with many damaging earthquakes; along the plate interface, within the descending Cocos slab and within the overriding North American Plate. The most recent event in the same region as the 2020 earthquakes was the 2018 Oaxaca earthquake, which struck 225 km to the northwest.[2]

Earthquake

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter of the earthquake was located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south-southwest of Santa María Zapotitlán, Oaxaca, between La Crucecita in the Bahías de Huatulco tourist resort to the southwest and the port of Salina Cruz to the northeast. The hypocentral depth was 20.0 km (12.4 mi). The depth and the observed focal mechanism are consistent with displacement on the plate interface.[2]

Damage

Widespread damage was reported from Oaxaca, with over 8,000 houses affected across 145 of the state's 570 municipalities. Other damaged structures included 213 schools, 15 health centers, three hospitals, 7 bridges and 25 sections of state highways.[7][8] Streets and buildings were also shaken in Mexico City, and damage was observed in at least 14 buildings across the city, including the collapse of a single floor residence and 3 buildings already seriously damaged by the 2017 Puebla earthquake.[6]

Casualties

As of June 24, 2020, 10 deaths had been reported in Oaxaca,[1][9] including a worker at the PEMEX oil refinery in Salina Cruz,[10] with two dozen injured.[9]

See also

References

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