Repeating Large Earthquakes along the Mexican Subduction Zone

Abstract

Abstract Repeating large earthquakes (M ≥ 7), waveforms for which are nearly identical, have been identified only on the Mexican subduction thrust near Acapulco. These earthquakes occurred on 1962 (Ms 7.0) and 2021 (Ms 7.0, Mw 7.0). Here, we report on two more sequences of three repeating large earthquakes each in eastern and western Oaxaca, Mexico. The repeating earthquakes in eastern Oaxaca occurred on 23 March 1928 (Ms 7.5), 1965 (Ms 7.6, Mw 7.5), and 2020 (Ms 7.4, Mw 7.4), and in western Oaxaca on 4 August 1928 (Ms 7.4), 1968 (Ms 7.2, Mw 7.3), and 2018 (Ms 7.2, Mw 7.2). Galitzin seismograms of the earthquakes in each sequence at DeBilt, The Netherlands or at Strasbourg, France are strikingly similar for at least 2600 s after the P-wave arrival. Similarity of waveforms of earthquakes in each sequence and tests with seismograms of events locations for which are accurately known suggest that their source areas were less than 10–20 km of each other. Moment-rate functions of these events are remarkably simple. We also document quasi-repeating earthquakes in central Oaxaca on 17 June 1928 (Ms 7.6) and 29 November 1978 (Ms 7.6, Mw 7.6). Such events have similar locations with large overlap in primary slip but are not identical. Recently, Michoacán–Colima earthquakes of 1973 (Ms 7.5, Mw 7.6) and 2022 (Ms 7.6, Mw 7.6) were reported as quasi-repeaters. Repeating or quasi-repeating large earthquakes imply that they are known for all the other events in the sequence if we know the location and gross source parameters of one of them. This permits the estimation of recurrence periods and the delineation of seismic gaps with greater confidence. Repeating and quasi-repeating large earthquakes in Oaxaca, an unique observation, shed new light on seismic hazard of the region, provide further support for the characteristic earthquake model, and reveal remarkably persistent behavior of ruptures through multiple earthquake cycles.