The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 7.3 Earthquake at a depth of 40 km, roughly 67 km offshore of the Nicaraguan coastal resort of Jiquilillo, slightly after 9.50 pm local time on Monday 13 October 2014 (slightly after 3.50 am on Tuesday 14 October, GMT). The quake was felt across much of Central America, from southern Mexico to Panama, and while there are no reports of any major damage one person was killed by a falling power cable in San Miguel in El Salvador.
The approximate location of the 14 October 2014 Central American Earthquake. Google Maps.
Nicaragua and El Salvador are located on the southern part of the Caribbean Plate, close
to its 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
Caribbean Plate along the Middle American Trench, which runs parallel to
the south coast of Central America, passing under the peninsula 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.
See also...
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recorded a Magnitude 6.1 Earthquake at a depth of 13 km on the northern
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time (slightly before 11.30...
Thousands evacuated after eruption on Mount Chaparrastique, El Salvador. Authorities in El Salvador have evacuated around 5000 people from a 3 km
exclusion zone around Mount Chaparrastique, a volcano in the east of
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