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Scientists from the University of Oregon, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and other research centers from several countries have discovered the shock by analyzing data from the earthquake .
The powerful earthquake of magnitude 8.2 killed 98 people and left behind a series of destructions when it hit the South Pacific Ocean, Mexico on September 7, 2017.
But now, the joint research team – which publishes a study in the Journal of Nature Geoscience – says that not only were records of seismic power broken, but that a tectonic plate was also broken.
Professor Diego Melgar of the University of Oregon, lead author, told National Geographic: "All indications are that it has been broken across its entire width."
The report says that the phenomenon, which has deeply shaken the Earth, would have taken only 10 seconds to occur.
But Professor Melgar mentioned other cases in the last century in which a tectonic plate had been split in two – and warned against the risk of the phenomenon reoccurring.
Seismologists believe that a previous example of a tectonic plate fracture in this way occurred in Iran in 2013, during a magnitude 7.7 earthquake that cost the lives to dozens of people.
But according to Melgar, no one knows why or how this frightening fracture occurred. The recent case in Mexico only intensifies the enigma.
The research team theoretically believes that the Cocos plate should not have been fractured to the desired depth because it was "hot enough" – a temperature of 1,100 ° C – to bend "like a soft plastic".
But the plaque broke like a "huge glass block", showing not only that geologists still have work to do, but that such mega-earthquakes will probably occur more frequently.
Professor Melgar said: "If you consider this a huge glass plate, this break has created a big gaping crack.
All indications are that she has crossed the whole width of the thing. "
Professor Melgar warned that, "my biggest concern is tsunamis," claiming that lifting the plates at these depths could result in huge masses of water to the coast.
Tectonic plates, also known as the lithospheric slab, consist of the earth's crust and hot but solid lava.
The plates move constantly around the surface of the Earth, either by grinding side by side, crumpling against each other and forming mountains.
When they go down and lie under another plate, it is called a subduction zone, causing tremors on the surface of the Earth.
The September 2017 earthquake shook the buildings in Mexico City and resulted in massive evacuation. This was the second strongest earthquake recorded in the country's history.
