The United States Geological Survey Recorded a Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake at a depth of 252 km about 2 km to the southeast of the town of Canillá, in El Quiché Department, Guatemala, slightly after 11.00 pm local time (slightly after 5.00 pm GMT) on Wednesday 17 May 2023. No injuries or damage have been reported following this event, but the Earthquake was felt across most of Guatemala, plus parts of southern Mexico and El Salvador. Such a pattern is typical of Earthquakes at great depth, where the energy tends ti be dispersed over a wide area by the time it reaches the surface.
Guatemala is located on the southern part of the boundary between the North American and Caribbean Plates, close to their boundary with the Cocos Plate, which underlies part of the east Pacific. The Cocos Plate is being pushed northwards by expansion of the crust along the East Pacific Rise, and is subducted beneath the North American and Caribbean Plates along the Middle American Trench, which runs parallel to the south coast of Guatemala and neighbouring countries, passing under Central America as it sinks into the Earth's interior. This is not a smooth process, the plates tend to stick together, breaking apart again once the pressure from the northward movement of the Cocos Plate builds up to much, triggering Earthquakes.
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