Microtectonic and extensometric measurements on the island of Basse-Terre in Guadeloupe are coherent with a homogeneous stress system (Julein and Bonneton, 1984).

In order to compare the stress field obtained from the deep seismicity and the stress directions deduced from superficial observations, a method for determining the aspect ratio and the principal directions of the regional stress field from a set of focal mechanisms has been used (Julien and Cornet, 1987).

When applied to a group of large earthquakes, this method provides means for computing the stress field in a lithospheric block. The inversion of the focal mechanisms located in the eastern part of the crust in the Caribbean plate between the Guadeloupe and the Barbuda islands shows a maximum principal stress oriented nearly horizontally in the direction N 120 ¿E. These results are in full agreement with microtectonic measurements and observed deformations. This direction corresponds to the convergence direction of the western Atlantic plate towards the Caribbean plate. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1989