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The Guatemala earthquake of 1816 on the Chixoy-Polochic fault

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OFFICE OF EARTHQUAKE STUDIES BRANCH OF SEISMOLOGY, 345 MIDDLEFIELD ROAD, MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA 94025

Abstract

Forty historical documents have been found which describe a previously unknown very large earthquake on 22 July 1816. This event occurred along the strike-slip boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates in Guatemala and southern Mexico. Modified Mercalli intensities are estimated from these accounts, and a rough isoseismal map is constructed. The damage pattern indicates that the causative fault was the left-lateral Chixoy-Polochic fault for which no damaging earthquake has previously been reported. Damage of Modified Mercalli intensity VII or greater covered an area of at least 13,000 km², extending over 340 km from Alta Verapaz province in Guatemala westward to San Cristobal Ias Casas, in Chiapas, Mexico. The area of intensity VII indicates a moment of 1 x 10²⁸ dyne-cm, while the estimated length of the intensity VII isoseismal indicates a more likely figure of 3.5 x 10²⁷ dyne-cm, or an equivalent magnitude (M_w) of to . The reported aftershock sequence is compatible with an earthquake in this magnitude range. These data demonstrate that the Chixoy-Polochic fault is currently an active part of the Caribbean-North American plate boundary and is capable of producing very large earthquakes.

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