Stress-tension eruption on Caribbean plate boundary triggers spasm of quakes in Guatemala

November 17, 2011 – GUATEMALA – A spasm of quakes erupted from stress tension of the convergent tectonic boundary where the Cocos plate is subducting under the Caribbean plate near Guatemala. A trio of earthquakes followed. Normally, we see seismic events in such a cluster rising in depth and diminishing in magnitude intensity- but today’s event was just the reverse. A 4.6 magnitude offshore earthquake struck at a depth of 38.7 km, followed by a 5.0 magnitude event at 74 km and finally a 5.1 earthquake which struck even deeper at a depth of 96.6 km. All are clear indications of the subduction power which buckles large land masses underneath another. On the East end of the Caribbean plate, earthquake swarms and tremors have also recently plagued Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and more recently, a 4.3 magnitude earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti. In September of this year, another cluster of four earthquakes struck the southern region of Guatemala along a fault, killing one person. The largest quake in that series was a 5.8 magnitude. President Alvaro Colom told a frightened public, “There is no reason to think there will be anything bigger.”1 This region will continue to see an increased amount of stress as tectonic plates across the globe succumb to new agitation brought on by the planet’s rapidly evolving geological dynamism. –The Extinction Protocol

1. September event