The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake ata depth of 20 km, about 20 km southeast of the town of Punta de Burica, on the tip of the Burica Peninsula on the Pacific Coast of western Panama, slightly befroe 3.55 am local time (slightly before 8.55 am GMT) on Monday 8 December 2014. This is was a large event, and this close to land at this shallow a depth could potentially have been very dangerous, though on this occasion there are no reports of any damage or casualties, though people reported feeling the event as far away as Panama City and northern Coasta Rica. Nor was there any sign of a tsunami wave caused by the quake.
The approximate location of the 8 December 2014 Pananma Earthquake. Google Maps.
Panama lies on a tectonic microplate known as the Panama Plate or Panama
Block, which has broken away from the North American Plate within the
last 20 million years, and is now caught between the Caribbean, Cocos,
Nazca and South American Plates. The southern margin of this is both a
convergent and a transform margin, as the Nazca Plate moves past the
Panama plate in a westerly direction, but is also being partially
subducted beneath Panama. This is not a smooth process; the two plates
continually stick together, then break apart once the pressure builds up
sufficiently, causing Earthquakes in the process.
See also...
The United States Geological Survey
recorded a Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake at a depth of 56.9 km, 3 km to the
south of the town of Guarumal near the Pacific...
The United States Geological Survey
recorded a Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake at a depth of 12.9 km, 11 km north
of the city of Puerto Armuelles on the west of...
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