The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) is a calc-alkaline volcanic arc cut by different active crustal fault systems that have originated several destructive historical earthquakes. Located in the central part of Mexico this region offers exceptional climatic, and fertility of soil conditions, which is the reason why more than 50% of the Mexican population now live here, increasing the seismic risk. Determining the seismic potential of these fault systems is important in the western section of the TMVB, in the vicinity of the city of Guadalajara, where more than 5 million inhabitants are concentrated in a densely populated urban area.

We focus here on the epicentral area of the M_W 7.2 sixteenth century Ameca earthquake, one of the first earthquakes described to take place in the American continent and which also may be the largest crustal earthquake to have occurred in the TMVB in the historical record. According to some historical sources, this earthquake would be associated with the Ameca-Ahuisculco Fault but no neotectonic study has been carried out so far to characterize this fault. Here, we describe the geomorphology of the fault escarpment and the characteristics of different fault segments. This first step allowed to select a suitable site for a paleoseismological study to track the historic event. The results of the interpretation of two trenches are consistent, showing evidence of net activity of the fault in the tectono-sedimentary record with two and possibly three seismic events. The older one of these is not well recorded and interpreted as a possible event that could have occurred after 27,91 ± 0,4 cal ka BP and before 5,67 ± 0,064 cal ka BP. The second one and best recorded event occurred around 5,67 ± 0,064 cal ka BP whilst the last one occurred after 0,985 ± 0,065 cal ka BP and is likely to be the geological record of the Ameca sixteenth century earthquake. Considering the potential rupture lengths and the coseismic displacement measured in the trenches, this fault system seems capable of generating earthquakes of magnitude 6.9 to 7.3 and represents a major source of earthquake hazard to the city of Guadalajara.

跨墨西哥火山带（TMVB）是一种钙碱性火山弧，由不同的活跃地壳断层系统切割而成，这些断层已引发了几次破坏性的历史地震。该地区位于墨西哥中部，具有异常的气候和肥沃的土壤条件，这就是为什么现在超过50％的墨西哥人口居住在这里，从而增加了地震风险的原因。确定这些断层系统的地震潜力在瓜达拉哈拉市附近的TMVB西部地区非常重要，那里有500万居民聚集在人口稠密的市区。

我们将重点放在M _W的震中区域十六世纪的阿美卡（Ameca）地震7.2是描述在美洲大陆发生的第一批地震之一，也是历史记录中TMVB发生的最大的地壳地震。根据一些历史资料，这次地震可能与阿梅卡-阿维斯库尔科断层有关，但迄今为止尚未进行新构造研究来表征该断层。在这里，我们描述断层悬崖的地貌和不同断层段的特征。第一步允许选择合适的地点进行古地震学研究，以追踪历史事件。两个沟槽的解释结果是一致的，显示了在构造沉积期记录中有两个甚至三个地震事件的断层净活动的证据。这些中较旧的一个没有被很好地记录，并被解释为可能发生在27,91±0.4 cal cal BP之后和5,67±0,064 cal ka BP之前的事件。第二个也是记录最好的地震发生在5,67±0,064 cal ka BP附近，而最后一个地震发生在0,985±0,065 cal ka BP之后，可能是阿美卡16世纪地震的地质记录。考虑到潜在的断裂长度和在海沟中测得的同震位移，该断层系统似乎能够产生6.9级至7.3级地震，是瓜达拉哈拉市地震危险的主要来源。064 cal ka BP，而最后一个发生在0,985±0,065 cal ka BP之后，很可能是16世纪阿美卡地震的地质记录。考虑到潜在的断裂长度和在海沟中测得的同震位移，该断层系统似乎能够产生6.9级至7.3级地震，是瓜达拉哈拉市地震危险的主要来源。064 cal ka BP，最后一个发生在0,985±0,065 cal ka BP之后，很可能是16世纪阿美卡地震的地质记录。考虑到潜在的断裂长度和在海沟中测得的同震位移，该断层系统似乎能够产生6.9级至7.3级地震，是瓜达拉哈拉市地震危险的主要来源。