A 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake Struck Offshore Chiapas, Mexico.

May 1, 2012 – A 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake Struck Offshore Tapachula, Mexico: The tremor was southwest of southern Mexico and Guatemala. The quake hit at 5:43PM at the epicenter and was 36 kilometers (23 miles) deep, near the eastern edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” (see map).  Pictured below is an earthquake hazards map of Mexico and parts of Central America. As you can see, most of the earthquake danger is along the west coast, which marks the boundary of the Cocos Tectonic subduction Plate. Subduction zone plates often produce the most powerful earthquakes, e.g., the Sumatra 9.1M on 12/26/04 and the Japanese 9.0M on 3/11/11.

At the time of the trembler, it was 6:43PM in New York, 5:43PM in Chicago, 4:43PM in Denver and 3:43PM in Los Angeles.
The tremor was 57 miles southwest of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico; 101 miles WSW of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala; 117 miles WSW of Huehuetenango, Guatemala; and 535 miles southeast of Mexico City.
The Master of Disaster