Today there has been a lot coverage of the the earthquake that happened in Mexico. As I did research about general earthquakes I found that they are causes by faults. Sometimes these faults are not the same as the tectonic plates though. The main difference is the size of them.
From the map above we can see that these plates are huge! These are constantly on the move, pushing and pulling from each other. The movements are very small but when there is enough energy stored they can all of a sudden move - causing earthquakes.
Mexico has three plates touching it. There was a fault on Cocos plate that caused the earthquake.
My local area also has faults. I live in West Valley (for the last month) and just found out that there are some faults here too!
In the top left hand corner you can see the West Valley Fault Zone. There are two close to me which could cause earthquakes at any moment.
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/19/16336276/mexico-city-back-to-back-earthquakes-september-seismology
From the map above we can see that these plates are huge! These are constantly on the move, pushing and pulling from each other. The movements are very small but when there is enough energy stored they can all of a sudden move - causing earthquakes.
Mexico has three plates touching it. There was a fault on Cocos plate that caused the earthquake.
My local area also has faults. I live in West Valley (for the last month) and just found out that there are some faults here too!
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/19/16336276/mexico-city-back-to-back-earthquakes-september-seismology
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