Septentrional-Oriente fault zone

The Septentrional-Orient fault zone (SOFZ) is a system of active coaxial left lateral-moving strike slip faults that runs along the northern side of the island of Hispaniola where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located and continues along the south of Cuba along the northern margin of the Cayman Trough. The SOFZ shares approximately half of the relative motion between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates with the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone and Walton fault zone which run along the southern side of Hispaniola and aong the southern margin of the Cayman Trough. Both fault zones terminate at the Mid-Cayman Rise to the west. Some researchers believe that the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone and the SOFZ bound a microplate, dubbed the Gonâve Microplate, a 190,000 km2 (73,000 sq mi) area of the northern Caribbean Plate that is in the process of shearing off the Caribbean Plate and accreting to the North America Plate.[1]

The Gonâve Microplate, showing location of the main fault zones

A major tremor on this fault destroyed the city of Cap-Haïtien and other cities in the northern part of Haiti and the Dominican Republic on 7 May 1842.[2] In January 2020, there was an M 7.7 earthquake on this fault between the southern tip of Cuba and the Cayman Islands.[3]

References
  1. Dolan, James F; Mann, Paul (1998). Active Strike-slip and Collisional Tectonics of the Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary Zone. Geological Society of America. p. ix. ISBN 0-8137-2326-4.
  2. Prepetit, Claude (9 October 2008), "Tremblements de terre en Haïti, mythe ou réalité?" (PDF), Le Matin (in French), N° 33082, quoting Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Élie, Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l’Ile Saint Domingue and J. M. Jan, bishop of Cap-Haïtien (1972), Documentation religieuse, Éditions Henri Deschamps.
  3. ANSS. "Cayman Trough 2020 : M 7.7 - 125km NNW of Lucea, Jamaica". Comprehensive Catalog. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved January 28, 2020
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