Seismotectonics of Jamaica

SUMMARY This is the first seismological investigation of the stress regime in the Jamaican crust. The fault plane solutions of 32 well‐recorded local earthquakes were determined and used as inputs for determining stress directions. The results consistently show that a strike‐slip fault regime (SH &g...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical journal international 2005-02, Vol.160 (2), p.573-580
Main Authors: Wiggins‐Grandison, Margaret D., Atakan, Kuvvet
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caribbean
fault plane
Jamaica
seismicity
stress regime
tectonics
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Summary:SUMMARY This is the first seismological investigation of the stress regime in the Jamaican crust. The fault plane solutions of 32 well‐recorded local earthquakes were determined and used as inputs for determining stress directions. The results consistently show that a strike‐slip fault regime (SH > Sv > Sh) exists in three homogeneous crustal areas, namely the Blue Mountain—Wagwater restraining bend of eastern Jamaica, the Rio Minho—Crawle River (RMCR) fault of central Jamaica and the Montpelier–Newmarket belt (MNB) of western Jamaica. However, for the island as a whole, a thrust‐faulting regime (SH > Sh > Sv) was found, but inhomogeneity is implied by the higher level of misfit obtained. These results are in keeping with results of other recent studies in the Jamaica–Cuba region and with the strike‐slip regime of the Gonave microplate boundaries.
ISSN:0956-540X
1365-246X
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2004.02471.x