Belize

Belize occupies a transitional tectonic position between the stable North American Plate interior to the north and the more active Caribbean-North American boundary to the south and west. The country's most significant structural feature is the Belize Fracture Zone, which extends along the eastern margin of the Yucatan Peninsula offshore, representing an ancient transform fault segment. The Chixoy-Polochic Fault — part of the same Caribbean-North American transform boundary system that includes Guatemala's Motagua Fault — passes through or near the southern Belize-Guatemala border region. This puts southern Belize within range of significant earthquakes generated on the Guatemalan fault system. Northern Belize, situated on the stable carbonate platform of the Yucatan, experiences much lower seismicity. The coastal lowlands and offshore cays are susceptible to [[tsunami]] from Caribbean-wide events rather than local fault rupture.

The historical earthquake record for Belize is less complete than for neighbouring Guatemala or Honduras due to the sparse population in earlier centuries and limited instrumentation. Regional events from the Guatemalan fault system have affected southern Belize periodically. The devastating 1976 Guatemalan earthquake (magnitude 7.5) on the Motagua Fault was strongly felt in Belize and caused some structural damage in southern districts. Events from the lesser-studied Belize Fracture Zone offshore have produced felt earthquakes in Belize City and the coastal zone. The country's low-lying coastal geography — much of Belize City sits near sea level — creates significant [[tsunami]] exposure if a major Caribbean earthquake were to generate a sea wave. The 1998 earthquake (magnitude 6.0) near the Belize-Guatemala border caused panic and minor damage.

Geologically, Belize spans from the old Precambrian metamorphic basement of the Maya Mountains in the south — ancient rocks related to the North American craton — to the extensive carbonate platform of the Yucatan in the north, which is essentially a flat-lying stack of Mesozoic and Cenozoic limestone more than 3 kilometres thick. The Maya Mountains represent a small exposure of continental basement exhumed by ancient faulting and erosion, providing the country's only significant topographic relief. The interface between the stable North American platform and the more actively deforming Caribbean-North American transform boundary runs roughly through the southern interior, making that region the most seismically exposed part of the country. [[seismic-wave]]s from Guatemalan events can travel efficiently through the carbonate platform and cause widespread felt shaking across the country.