Middle America Trench

The Middle America Trench, sometimes called the Central America Trench or Mid-American Trench, is a primary subduction zone, an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico and Central America. It can be divided into a northern section called the Acapulco Trench and a southern section called the Guatemala Trench.

Stretching from central Mexico to Costa Rica, the trench is approximately 2,750 km (1,700 mi) long. It reaches a depth of 6,689 m (21,880 ft) at its deepest point, the 18th-deepest trench in the world. It covers a total area of 96,000 sq km (37,000 sq mi).

The trench is the boundary between the Rivera Plate (a microplate), the Cocos Plate and the Nazca Plate on one side and the North American Plate and Caribbean Plate on the other. Many large earthquakes have occurred in the area of the Middle America Trench.

_{Map depicting the tectonic setting of the Middle American Trench off western Mexico}

Acapulco Trench / Guatemala Trench

The Middle America Trench can be divided into northern and southern sections. However, the division is different on its seaward and landward sides.

On the seaward side, the northern section, called the Acapulco Trench, runs from Jalisco to the Tehuantepec Ridge and follows a general curve that mimics the Mexican coast. It is bordered by the Tamayo Transform Fault, part of the East Pacific Rise.

The Guatemala Trench's southern section follows a near-linear course from the Tehuantepec Ridge off the Mexican coast to the Cocos Ridge off Costa Rica.

On the landward side, the division is demarcated along the Polochic-Motagua fault system, the boundary between the North American and Caribbean Plate. The dividing point on the landward side is about 400 km (250 mi) east of that on the seaward side.

The southern section of the trench is usually associated with active volcanism on land.

_{Map depicting the Central American Volcanic Arc with the Middle American Trench to the southwest}