Three earthquakes strike near the western border between the United States and Mexico

Three unrelated magnitude 6 earthquakes have rocked Baja California in three weeks, caused by three different faults.

Written by Hector Gonzalez-Huizar, Ph.D., Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education in Ensenada, Baja California (CICESE)

Citation: Gonzalez-Huizar, 2022, Three Earthquakes Near the Western US-Mexico Border, Templor, http://doi.org/10.32858/temblor.283

A view of the Pacific Ocean and the volcanoes of the San Quentin Volcanic Field, near the epicenter of the November 22, 2022 magnitude 6.2 earthquake in Baja California. Credit: Luis A. Igres Herrera.

When a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Baja California (Mexico) on November 22, it was the third earthquake larger than 6 to be felt in the region in less than three weeks. In just 20 days, people felt 3 major earthquakes in Baja California (Mexico) and Southern California (USA). The first quake, which measured 6.0 on the Richter scale, occurred on November 2, and its epicenter was located in the Pacific Ocean, about 950 miles (about 1,500 kilometers) west of San Diego, California. The second earthquake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, occurred in the Gulf of California, Mexico, on November 4. The epicenter of the third quake was near the town of San Quentin in Baja California. Fortunately, there are no reports of significant damage caused by these three events. However, it is a reminder that this region along the western border between the United States and Mexico is surrounded by faults capable of causing large and destructive earthquakes.

All three quakes were felt in several cities near the US-Mexico border, including San Diego and Tijuana, USGS reports Did You Feel It? website. Yesterday’s quake was felt as far away as Los Angeles, California, and Phoenix, Arizona, about 250 and 350 miles (400 and 560 kilometers) from the epicenter, respectively.

The red circles on the map indicate the location of the epicenters of the last three earthquakes. People felt the three earthquakes in some parts of California in the United States and in Baja California in Mexico. GoC stands for Gulf of California. The blue line represents the tectonic boundary between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates.

Three epicenters

The first quake, with a magnitude of 6.0, occurred in an area where large earthquakes are rare. The epicenter is far from any tectonic boundary (i.e. the boundary between two tectonic plates, where most earthquakes worldwide are generated).

The second event, with a magnitude of 6.1, occurred along the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate in the Gulf of California. The fault system defining plate boundaries in this region connects to the north with the San Andreas Volt system in California (Castro et al., 2021). The epicenter of this earthquake is located 70 miles (about 110 kilometers) from the epicenter of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that occurred in 2012. The USGS Earthquake Catalog reports that 15 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater have occurred along the Gulf of California. Since 2007, that means on average, one such event has occurred each year. However, it is important to note that these numbers are slightly higher than reported in the catalog of the CICESE seismological network, which monitors seismic activity in this part of Mexico – one of the most seismically active regions in the country.

Yesterday’s earthquake, which measured 6.2 on the Richter scale, occurred near the town of San Quentin, in Baja California, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of San Diego. The earthquake can be attributed to motion along the large San Clemente Fault system. This massive slip fault system can be considered part of the broader North American-Pacific plate boundary (Walton et al., 2020), which includes the San Andreas fault area which gave us 1857 magnitude 7.9 ft. San Francisco earthquake of 1906 with a magnitude of 7.8. The San Clemente Fault can be thought of as the westernmost band, or sliver, of the San Andreas Fault Zone.

The San Clemente Fault extends 200 to 300 miles (400 to 500 kilometers) offshore, where it can generate earthquakes of magnitude 8.0. Within 24 hours of the magnitude 6.2 quake, more than 100 aftershocks were detected, the largest with a magnitude of 4.5.

Although all three earthquakes occurred at the bottom of the sea, no tsunamis occurred. All three earthquakes were caused by faults in which blocks of rock moved mostly horizontally, known as a slip fault. In this type of earthquake, the vertical displacement of the sea floor during the movement is expected to be small. Thus, large sea waves are not generated, and the possibility of tsunamis is reduced.

Map showing the location of the last of the three earthquakes and the Great San Clemente Fault.

References

Castro R, Carciomaru D, Colin M, Vettel W, Gonzalez-Huizar H, Mendoza A, et al. (2021), Seismicity of the Gulf of California, Mexico, over the period 1901–2018, J South Am. geology. 106, 103087, doi: 10.1016/j.jsames.2020.103087.

Gonzalez-Huizar, H., Fletcher, J.M. (2020), Baja Earthquakes Highlight Seismic Hazards in Northern Mexico, Templor, http://doi.org/10.32858/temblor.116

Walton, MAL, Brothers, DS, Conrad, JE, Maier, KL, Roland, EC, Kluesner, JW, and Dartnell, P., (2020), Morphology, Structure, and Kinematics of the San Clemente and Catalina faults on high- Marine Geophysical Data Accuracy, Southern Inland Continental Frontier California (USA): Geo-sphere, v. 16, no. 5, p. 1312-1335, https://doi.org/10.1130/GES02187.1.

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