Determinación de esfuerzos tectónicos a partir de los mecanismos focales de terremotos en la microplaca de Panamá, República de Panamá

Elizabeth Muñoz; Néstor Luque; Julissa Sanjur; Allan López; Arkin Tapia

doi:10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10882

Submitted July 23, 2026

Published 2026-07-30

Artículos

Vol. 8 No. 2 (2026): Tecnociencia

Determination of tectonic stresses from the focal mechanisms of earthquakes in the Panama microplate, Republic of Panama

Elizabeth Muñoz⁺⁻
Néstor Luque ⁺⁻
Julissa Sanjur⁺⁻
Allan López⁺⁻
Arkin Tapia⁺⁻

DOI https://doi.org/10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10882

PDF (Español (España))

References

DOI: 10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10882

Published: 2026-07-30

How to Cite

Muñoz, E., Luque , N., Sanjur, J., López, A. and Tapia, A. (2026) “Determination of tectonic stresses from the focal mechanisms of earthquakes in the Panama microplate, Republic of Panama”, Tecnociencia, 8(2), pp. 210–234. doi: 10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10882.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize the tectonic stress field of the Panama microplate through the analysis of seismicity that occurred between 2015 and 2019. For this purpose, seismic events with magnitudes equal to or greater than Mw 4.0, recorded by the Institute of Geosciences, were used, resulting in a robust database of 965 earthquakes. From these records, 275 reliable focal mechanisms were determined through the analysis of P-wave polarities, ensuring the quality of the data used.

Based on the obtained focal mechanisms, stress tensors were calculated for nine of the ten seismogenic regions defined in the study using the Win Tensor software. This analysis allowed the estimation of key parameters such as the orientation of the principal stress axes (??, ??, and ??), the R and R? coefficients, the tectonic regime types, and the orientation of the maximum horizontal stress (SHmax). The results were represented in maps generated using GMT software and visualized on the CASMO platform of the World Stress Map.

The resulting maps reveal a marked spatial heterogeneity of stress regimes within the Panama microplate. Areas dominated by compressional, extensional, strike-slip, and mixed stress regimes were identified. Regions such as Punta Burica exhibit the coexistence of compressional and extensional regimes, whereas in eastern Panama, extensional and compressional regimes with a strike-slip component predominate. In the Talamanca region, along the Panama–Costa Rica border, complex tectonic regimes were also identified.

Overall, this study provides a comprehensive view of the tectonic dynamics of the Panama microplate, highlighting its structural complexity and contributing to the regional understanding of active seismic and tectonic processes.

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