:Latin America travel blog:

The Andes mountain range goes from South America and runs almost parallel to the Pacific coast, from Cape Horn to the vicinity of Panama, being one of the largest mountain systems in the world.
Since its end closer to southern Chile, the Andes runs in parallel chains by Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. In Venezuela is divided into three different channels, and along its entire length, the range rises abruptly from the Pacific coast.
The lifting and folding of sedimentary rocks - which are composed of the Andes - originated during the Cretaceous period, when the crust of the Pacific plate began, where a plate collides with another and the first is introduced below the second, from the South American plate in the process known as plate tectonics.

When these plates move or overlap one above the other, the movement affects mostly in failure. The failure also exist chimneys (volcanoes) which expel the energy produced inside the Earth.
Precisely on the fault settle California (very active in terms of earthquakes) and all Andean countries where there are many volcanoes.

It is important to know the facts and not just an idea of why or how because there are earthquakes in Latin America and not think that is why it is dangerous to travel to any of these places because it does not represent a danger to tourists abroad in addition to having the assurance that any U.S. citizen will have accurate and updated information through any American consulates throughout all Latin America.