GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Over 90% of earthquakes – including almost all of the largest and most destructive ones – happen at or near so-called plate boundaries, where the 15 or so major subdivisions (“plates”) of the Earth’s crust and uppermost mantle move towards, alongside, or away from each other.

Detailed explanation-2: -About 80% of earthquakes occur where plates are pushed together, called convergent boundaries. Another form of convergent boundary is a collision where two continental plates meet head-on.

Detailed explanation-3: -Earthquakes occur along all types of plate boundaries: subduction zones, transform faults, and spreading centers. However, there are earthquakes which occur within plates.

Detailed explanation-4: -Tectonic plates move very slowly relative to each other, typically a few centimetres per year, but this still causes a huge amount of deformation at the plate boundaries, which in turn results in earthquakes.