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Last Friday 16, Mexico's Seismological National Service registered a 7.2 quake at 17:39 hours, in the area close to the town of Pinotepa Nacional, located on the shores of the state of Oaxaca .
Mexico's Seismological National Service announced that, until the 6:00 hours of today, a total of 2,942 aftershocks of the February 16 earthquake have been registered, out of which the most intense (magnitude 6) woke up Mexico City inhabitants at 00:56 on February 19.
Oaxaca is one the of the states with the highest seismic activity of the Republic, accounting for approximately 25% of all quakes in Mexico.
The origin of this seismic activity is due, mainly, to the contact between two plate tectonics, the Cocos Plate and the North American Plate . The interaction between both plates occurs on the Pacific coast, all the way from Jalisco to Chiapas.
![Why is Oaxaca prone to earthquakes?](https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/resizer/v2/UD23NENE2VFTHNI3CB5NBYGL4U.jpg?auth=&smart=true&width=441&height=272)
Earthquakes are recurrent phenomena which take place when enough stress has accumulated at the contact area ( subduction zone ) of the plates and needs to be released.
However, we have to remember Mexico as a whole, not only Oaxaca, is considered to be a country prone to quakes due to the interaction of five plate tectonics: the Cocos Plate, the North American Plate, the Pacific Plate, the Rivera Plate, and the Caribbean Plate.
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