Location map Puerto Rico trench - USGS

The Puerto Rico Trench is an oceanic trench located on the boundary between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The trench is associated with a complex transition between the subduction zone to the south along the Lesser Antilles island arc and the major transform fault zone or plate boundary that extends west between Cuba and Hispaniola through the Cayman Trench to the coast of Central America. Scientific studies have concluded that an earthquake occurring along this fault zone could generate a significant tsunami. Image File history File links Caribbean-map. ... Image File history File links Caribbean-map. ... The oceanic trenches are hemispheric-scale long but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor. ... Map of Central America and the Caribbean A Caribbean beach in Isla Margarita, Venezuela. ... Categories: Geology stubs | Plate tectonics ... Location of the Lesser Antilles (green) in relation to the rest of the Caribbean Islands of the Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles, also known as the Caribbees,[1] are part of the Antilles, which together with the Bahamas and Greater Antilles form the West Indies. ... An island arc is a type of archipelago formed by plate tectonics as one oceanic tectonic plate subducts under another and produces magma. ... A transform fault is a geological fault that is a special case of strike-slip faulting which terminates abruptly, at both ends, at a major transverse geological feature. ... Early map of Hispaniola The island of Hispaniola (from Spanish, La Española) is the second-largest island of the Antilles, lying between the islands of Cuba to the west, and Puerto Rico to the east. ... Cayman Trench, also called Bartlett Deep, or Bartlett Trough, is a submarine trench on the floor of the western Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. ... Map of Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. ... The tsunami that struck Malé in the Maldives on December 26, 2004. ...

The island of Puerto Rico lies immediately to the south of the fault zone and the trench. The trench is 800 kilometers (500 mi) long and has a maximum a depth of 8,605 meters (28,232 ft) at Milwaukee Deep, which is the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean. Milwaukee Deep is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, and is part of the Puerto Rico Trench. ...

Perspective view of the sea floor of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The Lesser Antilles are on the lower left side of the view and Florida is on the upper right. The purple sea floor at the center of the view is the Puerto Rico trench, the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1500x1076, 330 KB)Perspective view of the sea floor of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1500x1076, 330 KB)Perspective view of the sea floor of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Geology

The Puerto Rico Trench is located at a boundary between two plates that pass each other along a transform boundary with only a small component of subduction. The Caribbean Plate is moving to the east while the North American Plate is moving to the west. The North American Plate is subducting the Caribbean Plate to the southeast of the trench. This subduction zone explains the presence of active volcanoes over the southeastern part of the Caribbean Sea. Volcanic activity is frequent along the island arc southeast from Puerto Rico to the coast of South America. The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... The Juan de Fuca plate sinks below the North America plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. ... Detail of tectonic plates from: Tectonic plates of the world. ...  The North American plate, shown in brown The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Cherskiy Range in East Siberia. ... Volcano 1. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic do not have active volcanoes; however they are at risk from earthquakes and tsunamis. An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from and is powered by the sudden release of stored energy in the crust that propagates seismic waves. ... The tsunami that struck Malé in the Maldives on December 26, 2004. ...

Public awareness

Knowledge of the risks has not been widespread among the general public of the islands located near the trench. Governments have generally spoken little about the risks for two main reasons. First: tourism is essential for those nations to survive; wider knowledge of the danger may cut revenue generated by the industry. Second: the governments want to prevent fear among the local population. Tourists at Oahu island, Hawaii Tourism is the act of travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes, and also refers to the provision of services in support of this act. ...

Since 1988, the Puerto Rican Seismic Society has been trying to use the Puerto Rican media to inform people about a future earthquake that could result in a catastrophic tragedy.

Following the 2004 tsunami that affected more than forty countries in the Indian ocean, many more people now fear of the consequences that such an event would bring to the Caribbean. Local governments have begun emergency planning. In the case of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the United States government has been studying the problem for years [1] and is increasing its seismic investigations and developing tsunami warning systems. The tsunami caused by the December 26, 2004 earthquake strikes Ao Nang, Thailand. ...

Earthquake history

On 11 October 1918, the western coast of the island was hit by a major earthquake, which is famous in the area, and caused a tsunami. In 1953, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic was affected by the Santo Domingo earthquake. Experts blame both tragic earthquakes on the Puerto Rico trench fault. October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... The tsunami that struck Malé in the Maldives on December 26, 2004. ... Santo Domingo, population 2,061,200 (2003), is the capital of the Dominican Republic. ...

Puerto Rico in particular has always been an area of concern to earthquake experts because, apart from the 1918 episode, there are frequent cases of tremors in and around the island. A 1981 tremor was felt across the island, while another in 1985 was felt in the towns of Cayey and Salinas. Cayey is a mountain town in central Puerto Rico. ... Salinas is a small Puerto Rican town near Ponce. ...

Tectonic and seismic map of Puerto Rico Trench area. Arrows show direction of plate movements. USGS.

[2] Image File history File linksMetadata PRtrenchlocation. ... Image File history File linksMetadata PRtrenchlocation. ...

See also

• Plate tectonics
• Caribbean Plate
• List of oceanic trenches

Bridge across the Álfagjá rift valley in southwest Iceland, the boundary of the Eurasian and North American continental tectonic plates. ... Detail of tectonic plates from: Tectonic plates of the world. ... Categories: Stub | Plate tectonics | Earth sciences | Landforms | Oceanic trenches ...

References

• NOAA Ocean Explorer
• Sound Waves 03 USGS
• Sound Waves 04
• Woods Hole USGS
• Puerto Rico Seismic Network web site