Below are a list of the largest earhquakes since 1900. Based on the location, de

Question

Below are a list of the largest earhquakes since 1900. Based on the location, determine what type of plate boundary each earthquake occurred on. World's largest Earthquakes (source: http://geology.com/records /largest-earthquake/) Magnitude Location Date Boundary Type 9.5 Chile 05/22/1960 9.2 03/28/1964 9.1 Alaska (Prince William Sound) Off the coast of Northern Sumatra Honshu, Japan 12/26/2004 9.0 03/11/2011 9.0 Kamchatka 11/04/1952 8.8 Off the coast of Chile 02/27/2010 8.8 01/31/1906 Off the coast of Ecuador Rat Islands, Alaska 8.7 02/04/1965 8.6 Northern Sumatra 03/28/2005 8.6 Tibet 08/15/1950 8.6 04/11/2012 Off the coast of Northern Sumatra Andreanof Islands, Alaska 8.6 03/09/1957

Explanation / Answer

As per norms I should answer for first 4 questions only

1. It is also the second largest earthquake ever recorded, next to the M 9.5 earthquake in Chile in 1960. Faults are cracks in the earth caused by buckling and stress from the movement of the tectonic plates. Movement along faultlines tends to happen along plate boundaries(where the edges of the tectonic plates meet). In the case of this enormous earthquake, the subduction (downward movement) of the Nazca plate under the the South American continent is what caused the major quake back in 1960. In fact, the Nazca plate continues to dive down below the continent and it's this constant slow movement (with some occasional rapid shifts leading to big jolts) that creates earthquakes throughout that region.

2. The Great Alaska Earthquake (red star), (1964) caused when the Pacific Plate lurched northward underneath the North American Plate.

3. Off western Sumatra the plate tectonic situation is that the Indo-Australian plate is moving against the Eurasian plate, which is being dragged beneath the Eurasian plate, in what is termed a 'subduction zone', down into the heat of the earth's molten mantle.

4. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake has occurred near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, as a result of thrust faulting on or near the subduction zone interface plate boundary between the Pacific and North American plates.

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