Why do earthquakes occur?
"The surface of the Earth is in continuous slow motion. This is plate tectonics--the motion of immense rigid plates at the surface of the Earth in response to flow of rock within the Earth. The plates cover the entire surface of the globe. Since they are all moving they rub against each other in some places (like the San Andreas Fault in California), sink beneath each other in others (like the Peru-Chile Trench along the western border of South America), or spread apart from each other (like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge)."
Gerard Fryer, "The Causes of Earthquakes," Hawaii Institute of Geophysics & Planetology, University of Hawaii, http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/ASK/earthquakes.html (accessed July 12, 2013).
The Ring of Fire"The "Ring of Fire", also called the Circum-Pacific belt, is the zone of earthquakes surrounding the Pacific Ocean- about 90% of the world's earthquakes occur there."
The "Ring" refers to the horse-shoe shape created by tectonic plates rubbing against the much larger Pacific plate. As shown to the right, Japan is covered in the active volcano symbol and sits directly on the "ring." |
"Earthquake Glossary - Ring of Fire," United States Geological Survey, http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/glossary/?term=Ring%20of%20Fire (accessed on July 12, 2013).
Japan
As you can see to the left, Japan sits on the edges of four different tectonic plates: the Amurian Plate, the Philippine Sea Plate, the Pacific Plate and the Okholsk Plate.
Japan's location on the border of the ring of fire consequently means that Japan has numerous volcanoes and endures many earthquakes and subsequently tsunamis.
Tsunamis are manifested when the tectonic plates underneath the ocean floor shift. During an earthquake or volcano, the bottom of the ocean floor moves, giving the water a great amount of energy and creating a bump of water on the surface. The water subsequently spreads out in the form of massive waves.
Japan's location on the border of the ring of fire consequently means that Japan has numerous volcanoes and endures many earthquakes and subsequently tsunamis.
Tsunamis are manifested when the tectonic plates underneath the ocean floor shift. During an earthquake or volcano, the bottom of the ocean floor moves, giving the water a great amount of energy and creating a bump of water on the surface. The water subsequently spreads out in the form of massive waves.