\nThe August 20, 2006, M 7.0 Scotia Sea earthquake occurred as the result of shallow transform faulting on or near the plate boundary between the Antarctica and Scotia plates in the southern Atlantic Ocean. Focal mechanism solutions indicate that rupture occurred on either an east-west left-lateral fault or a right-lateral north-striking fault—the former plane aligns with the local plate boundary system. At the location of the earthquake, the Antarctica plate moves approximately eastward (left-lateral) relative to the Scotia plate at a velocity of about 7 mm/yr. The boundary between these two plates is predominantly strike-slip. There does not appear to be any north-south compression of the small Scotia plate as it twists between the larger Antarctica and South America plates. However, pure strike-slip earthquakes do not represent all the motion between the Scotia and Antarctic plates. Partitioning occurs on one or both of the Scotia Sea boundaries and modeled motions are consistent with the existence of a rigid Scotia plate.\n
\n\nBeyond the eastern end of the Scotia plate, the Sandwich microplate is moving rapidly eastward, at rates from 65 to 90 mm/yr. This forms an eastern flank of the spreading system behind the South Sandwich Arc. There are no land-based observations within the Scotia Sea or Sandwich plates to measure plate motion; all reported plate motions are derived from remote earthquake recordings. Six earthquakes of M 6 or larger have occurred within 400 km of the August 20th event over the preceding 40 years. However, due to the remote location of these events far from population centers that might be vulnerable to earthquake shaking, none have associated damage or casualties.\n
\n\nHayes et al. (2016) Tectonic summaries of magnitude 7 and greater earthquakes from 2000 to 2015, USGS Open-File Report 2016-1192. (5.2 MB PDF)\n
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