The World's Earthquake Zones
THE EARTH'S TECTONIC PLATES
The earth's crust is made up of rocky plates some thirty six miles thick. These massive plates are known as tectonic plates or shelves. The earth's continents slide around on these plates as course, but every now and again two of these plates meet and one will push against the other, causing massive drag of one against the other. Scientists believe there are two reasons for this, one is heat or convection in the mantle layer just below the earth's crust or gravitational pull squeezing the plates together.
Maps courtesy of www.seismo.ethz.ch
THE EARTH'S PRIMARY PLATES
(Showing tertiary plates within)
THE AFRICAN PLATE
Madagascar plate.
Nubian plate.
Seychelles plate.
Somali plate.
THE ANTARCTIC PLATE
Kerguelen microcontinent plate.
Shetland plate.
South Sandwich plate.
THE EURASIAN PLATE
Apulian plate.
Aegean sea plate.
Amurian plate.
Anatolian plate.
Banda Sea plate.
Iberian plate.
Iranian plate.
Molucca plate which also consits of the Halmahera plate and Sangihe plates.
Okinawa plate.
Sunda plate.
Timor plate.
Yangste plate.
THE INDO - AUSTRALIAN PLATE
Australian plate.
Capricorn plate.
Futuna plate.
Indian plate.
Kermadec plate.
Maoke plate.
Niuafo'ou plate.
Sri Lanka plate.
Tonga plate.
Woodlark plate.
THE NORTH AMERICAN PLATE
Alaska - Yukon orogeny.
California - Nevada orogeny.
Greenland plate.
Jan Mayen plate.
Okhotsk plate.
THE PACIFIC PLATE
Balmoral Reef plate.
Bird's Head plate.
Caroline plate.
Conway Reef plate.
Easter plate.
Galapogos plate.
Juan Fernandez plate.
Kula plate.
Manus plate.
New Hebrides plate.
North Bismarck plate.
North Galapagos micro-plate.
Solomon Sea plate.
South Galapagos plate.
THE SOUTH AMERICAN PLATE
Altiplano plate.
Falklands micro-plate.
North Andes plate.
Peruvian Andes orogeny.
Sierras Pampeanas orogeny.
THE EARTH'S SECONDARY PLATES
(Showing tertiary plates within)
THE ARABIAN PLATE
THE CARIBBEAN PLATE
Panama plate.
THE COCOS PLATE
Rivera plate.
THE JUAN DE FUCA PLATE
Explorer plate.
Gorda plate.
THE NAZCA PLATE
THE PHILIPPINE SEA PLATE
Mariana plate.
Philippine micro-plate.
THE EARTH'S OCEANIC RIDGES
