Mexico had two major earthquakes this month. Here’s why

(CNN)For the second time in two weeks, a powerful earthquake struck Mexico, toppling buildings, cracking highways and killing hundreds of people.

Just like the deadly earthquake earlier this month, Tuesday’s temblor caused heavy and prolonged rattling in the capital. Although the two earthquakes struck hundreds of miles apart, they have some similarities, experts say.

The 7.1-magnitude earthquake Tuesday was about 650 kilometers from the epicenter of the 8.1-magnitude earthquake that hit September 8, said Jana Pursley, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey.

Both earthquakes seem to be a result of the rupture of fault lines within the North American tectonic plate, according to Behzad Fatahi, associate professor of geotechnical and earthquake engineering at the University of Technology Sydney.

Two major earthquakes in the same country within a short span of time may sound rare, but it’s not a surprise in such a seismically active region.

“It is not very unusual to get earthquakes and aftershocks occurring in sequence,” Fatahi said. “When fault lines rupture, they can induce further ruptures as a chain effect in other parts of the same fault or nearby fault lines.”

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