GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Earth’s crust (the outer layer of the planet) is made up of several pieces called tectonic plates and most earthquakes occur along their edges. The plates under the oceans are called oceanic plates.

Detailed explanation-2: -Over 80 per cent of large earthquakes occur around the edges of the Pacific Ocean, an area known as the ‘Ring of Fire’; this where the Pacific plate is being subducted beneath the surrounding plates. The Ring of Fire is the most seismically and volcanically active zone in the world.

Detailed explanation-3: -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.

Detailed explanation-4: -A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. Along these boundaries, earthquakes are common and magma (molten rock) rises from the Earth’s mantle to the surface, solidifying to create new oceanic crust.

Detailed explanation-5: -The plates rip apart at divergent plate boundaries, crash together at convergent plate boundaries, and slide past each other at transform plate boundaries. Tectonic activity such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and the formation of mountain ranges commonly occurs along the boundaries of the moving plates.