Macroseismic Study of the Devastating 22–23 October 1749 Earthquake Doublet in the Northern Colima Graben (Trans‐Mexican Volcanic Belt, Western Mexico)

2019 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 2304-2317
Author(s):  
Max Suter
Keyword(s):  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Major Fault ◽  
Half Graben ◽  
Local Earthquake ◽  
Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Earthquake Doublet

ABSTRACT This detailed macroseismic study of a locally devastating earthquake doublet in the western part of the Trans‐Mexican volcanic belt, north of Fuego de Colima Volcano, on 22 and 23 October 1749 is based on contemporary documentary sources. The shocks razed the towns of Zapotlán el Grande (now Ciudad Guzmán) and Sayula and caused major damage in Amacueca and Atoyac. A first mainshock on 22 October 1749 at 4 p.m. was devastating in Sayula and Zapotlán el Grande and caused some damage in Amacueca. A stronger second mainshock ∼20  hr later, on 23 October 1749 at about noon, was destructive in Sayula, Amacueca, and Zapotlán el Grande where only three residential buildings remained standing. Estimates of the intensity magnitude MI of the mainshocks range between 5.7 and 6.0, with a preferred magnitude of 5.8. The macroseismic intensity distribution, limited area of destruction, and prolonged sequence of aftershocks, lasting at least until August 1750, indicate a local earthquake source in the northern Colima graben, most likely on the major fault bounding the Sayula half‐graben in the west.

The Historical Seismicity of the Puebla-Tlaxcala Region (Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt) during Early Novohispanic Times (A.D. 1542–1740) and the Structure of the Tlaxcala-Huamantla Half-Graben

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Suter
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Central Mexico ◽  
Earthquake Catalog ◽  
Induced Earthquakes ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Earthquake Intensity ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Half Graben ◽  
Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt

Abstract This article documents earthquake intensity observations during early novohispanic times (A.D. 1542–1740) in the Puebla-Tlaxcala region (central Mexico), mostly based on Nahuatl-language historical annals and chronicles, and includes (as a supplement) a descriptive earthquake catalog for this period. Although it is difficult to assign intensities from fragmentary accounts, the largest shocks (A.D. 1582 and 1711) caused damage through the entire region. Earthquake ground shaking in the study area, located within the active volcanic arc crossing central Mexico, can result from intraslab normal faulting in the subducted Cocos plate, subduction interface thrust earthquakes, motion on the faults of the intra-arc Tlaxcala-Huamantla half-graben, as well as extension accommodated through magmatic injection. Most of the historical sources describe earthquakes felt only locally and sometimes report prolonged sequences of shocks, which is indicative of magmatic dike-induced earthquakes or else resulted from motion on the faults of the Tlaxcala-Huamantla half-graben. This structure, ∼70 km long and 15–20 km wide, is the only major tectonic depression in the eastern part of the trans-Mexican volcanic belt. It is filled by a volcano-sedimentary sequence, up to 400 m thick, of unknown but likely Pliocene age. The half-graben is bound in the north by an east–west-striking and south-dipping normal fault system, which is morphologically most pronounced near the town of Tlaxcala where the footwall uplift reaches a maximum of 350 m. The fault array is likely to be active; it vertically displaces Quaternary Totolqueme volcano.

scholarly journals Geochemical Evidence for Slab Melting in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gomez-Tuena ◽  
C. H. Langmuir ◽  
S. L. Goldstein ◽  
S. M. Straub ◽  
F. Ortega-Gutierrez
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Slab Melting ◽  
Geochemical Evidence ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt

scholarly journals Evidence for geomagnetic excursions recorded in Brunhes and Matuyama Chron lavas from the trans-Mexican volcanic belt

2013 ◽  
Vol 118 (6) ◽  
pp. 2648-2669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Michalk ◽  
Harald N. Böhnel ◽  
Norbert R. Nowaczyk ◽  
Gerardo J. Aguírre-Diaz ◽  
Margarita López-Martínez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Matuyama Chron ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt

Volcano-sedimentary processes at Las Derrumbadas rhyolitic twin domes, Serdán-Oriental basin, Eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

2021 ◽  
pp. SP520-2021-144
Author(s):  
Marie-Noëlle Guilbaud ◽  
Corentin Chédeville ◽  
Ángel Nahir Molina-Guadarrama ◽  
Julio Cesar Pineda-Serrano ◽  
Claus Siebe
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Debris Avalanche ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Eruptive Episode ◽  
Basin Floor ◽  
Supplementary Material ◽  
Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt

AbstractThe eruption of the ∼10 km3 rhyolitic Las Derrumbadas twin domes about 2000 yrs ago has generated a wide range of volcano-sedimentary deposits in the Serdán-Oriental lacustrine basin, Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Some of these deposits have been quarried, creating excellent exposures. In this paper we describe the domes and related products and interpret their mode of formation, reconstructing the main phases of the eruption as well as syn-and-post eruptive erosional processes. After an initial phreatomagmatic phase that built a tuff ring, the domes grew as an upheaved plug lifting a thick sedimentary pile from the basin floor. During uplift, the domes collapsed repeatedly to form a first-generation of hetero-lithologic hummocky debris avalanche deposits. Subsequent dome growth produced a thick talus and pyroclastic density currents. Later, the hydrothermally-altered over-steepened dome peaks fell to generate 2nd generation, mono-lithologic avalanches. Subsequently, small domes grew in the collapse scars. From the end of the main eruptive episode onwards, heavy rains remobilized parts of the dome carapaces and talus, depositing lahar aprons. Las Derrumbadas domes are still an important source of sediments in the basin, and ongoing mass-wasting processes are associated with hazards that should be assessed, given their potential impact on nearby populations.Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5752296

Late Cenozoic tectonics offshore western Mexico and its relation to the structure and volcanic activity in the western Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

1993 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-559
Author(s):  
Hugo Delgado Granados
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Activity ◽  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
Western Mexico ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Cenozoic Tectonics ◽  
Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt

La tasa de convergencia calculada indica que la tectónica del occidente de México ha sido tensional durante los últimos 3 Ma. Este estilo de deformación se ve reflejado en la formación de estructuras rift en la parte occidental de la Faja Volcánica Trans-Mexicana [FVTM]. Los valores obtenidos para la tasa de convergencia predicen que, a través del tiempo, se verifica una tectónica menos tensional (con tendencia a la neutralidad) en la parte sureste de la zona de interacción de las placas de Rivera Y Norteamérica, mientras que en la parte noroccidental se vuelve más tensional. Por otra parte, un análisis cualitativo de las tasas de esparcimiento muestra que éstas fueron más rápidas antes de los 6.5 Ma de lo que fueron posteriormente. Después de analizar diferentes parámetros cinemáticos, se concluyó que la tasa de esparcimiento de la cresta del Pacífico Oriental en su sector Pacífico-Rivera, influye fuertemente sobre la tasa de convergencia. De esta manera se puede establecer una correlación positiva entre la evolución de la tasa de esparcimiento de la cresta Pacífico-Rivera y la geología continental. Esta correlación muestra que tasas de esparcimiento relativamente rápidas coinciden con la presencia de volcanismo monogenético calci-alcalino en la parte occidental de la FVTM cuando menos desde hace 10 Ma y que este tipo de volcanismo continúa hasta nuestros días. Sin embargo, cuando la tasa de esparcimiento se ha hecho más lenta (y por tanto la tasa de convergencia se ha hecho menor) durante el periodo comprendido entre 6.5 Ma y 3.5 Ma, se ha verificado en la región una tectónica extensional ampliamente distribuida, volcanismo explosivo y sedimentación lacustre en los sistemas rift de Colima, Tepic-Zacoalco y de Chapala; particularmente entre los 4.6 Ma y 3.9 Ma ha coincidido con volcanismo alcalino en los rifts fr Colima y Tepic-Zacoalco. Un leve incremento en la tasa de esparcimiento después de los 3.5 Ma coinciden con el decremento de actividad volcánica (principalmente alcalina). Durante el periodo entre 1.6 Ma y 0.7 Ma, la tasa de esparcimiento disminuyó de nuevo coincidiendo con un fallamiento normal continuo en las tres estructuras rift mencionadas y en parte, con otra etapa de volcanismo alcalino (entre 1.4 Ma y 0.2 Ma) en los rift de Colima y Tepic-Zacoalco. Después de los 0.7 Ma, la tasa de esparcimiento se ha incrementado levemente. Por otra parte, se observa una relación genética entre el contenido de elementos compatibles en rocas volcánicas de la región con la tasa de convergencia, lo cual implica que tasas de subducción mayores aportan una mayor cantidad de sedimentos acrecionados a la cuña del manto. Esto explica las diferencias geoquímicas entre las rocas volcánicas a lo largo del frente volcánico de la parte occidental de la FVTM.

scholarly journals PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF PALAEOMA GNETIC MEASUREMENTS OF TERTIARY-QUATERNARY IGNEOUS ROCKS FROM THE EASTERN PART OF THE TRANS MEXICAN VOLCANIC BELT

1981 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Bohnel ◽  
J. F. W. Negendank
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Igneous Rocks ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt

Resultados paleomagnéticos de aproximadamente 500 muestras orientadas colectadas en 59 sitios de la sección este del eje volcánico trans-Mexicano se presentan en este trabajo. Las rocas ígeneas estudiadas son del Plioceno y Cuaternario, con la excepción del macizo de Palma Sola, de edad Mioceno. Los resultados paleomagnéticos se usan para correlacionar con resultados geoquímicos y geológicos del área y con resultados paleomagnéticos de Norteamérica y México. Los resultados no indican moviemiento relativo significante entre Norteamérica y la sección central-este de México en el período estudiado.

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