2018 Swan Islands earthquake in the context of Tegucigalpa


2018 Swan Islands earthquake in the context of Tegucigalpa

⭐ Core Definition: 2018 Swan Islands earthquake

On 9 January 2018, at approximately 8:51 p.m. local time (02:51:10 January UTC), a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck in the Yucatán Basin of the Caribbean Sea, 44 kilometres (27 mi) east of Great Swan Island off the coast of Honduras. The earthquake was felt across Central America, and rattled windows in Tegucigalpa. The earthquake was also felt in the Cayman Islands.

Tsunami advisories were issued for certain areas by the U.S. Tsunami Warning Center. They were later cancelled after further monitoring. No tsunami was generated since the earthquake was an almost pure strike-slip on a near vertical plane, producing little upward movement of the sea floor that would cause a large displacement of water.

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2018 Swan Islands earthquake in the context of Swan Islands Transform Fault

The Swan Islands Transform Fault is an active left-lateral (sinistral) strike-slip fault zone that forms part of the boundary between the Caribbean plate and the North American plate. It runs along the southern boundary of the Cayman Trough from the Mid-Cayman Rise spreading center in the east, to Guatemala in the west, where it continues as the Motagua Fault. It consists of two main fault strands that overlap west of the Swan Islands. It has been associated with several major earthquakes, including those in 2009, 2018 and 2025.

View the full Wikipedia page for Swan Islands Transform Fault
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