The 29 July 2014 (Mw 6.4) Southern Veracruz, Mexico Earthquake: Scenary Previous to Its Occurrence.

Abstract:

On 29 July 2014 (10:46 UTC) a magnitude 6.4 (Mw) earthquake occurred at the southern Veracruz, Mexico region. The epicenter was preliminary located at 17.70° N and 95.63° W. It was a normal fault event with the slip on a fault that trend NNW and a focus approximately 117 km below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico costal plane. The earthquake was widely felt through centro and southern Mexico. In Oaxaca City 133 km to the south a person die of a hearth attack. No damages were reported.

Most prominent moderate-sized earthquakes occurring in the southern Veracruz region since 1959 has been concentrated along two well defined seismic belts. One belt runs off the coast following nearly its contour. Here the earthquakes are shallow depth and mostly show a reverse fault mechanism. This belt of seismicity begins at the Los Tuxtlas volcanic field. Another seismic belt is located inland 70 km to the west. Here most earthquakes are of intermediate-depth (108-154 km) focus and normal faulting mechanism. The July 2014 earthquake is located near to this second seismic belt.

In the present paper we discuss, within the regional geotectonic framework, the location and some aspects of the rupture process of the July 2014 earthquake.