Key Role Of Plate Tectonics

Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes and Tsunamis As someone who has never looked deeper into earthquakes and tsunamis before, I have always been curious about what causes them. Most people know that plate tectonics play a key role in the creation of earthquakes, but what exactly are plate tectonics? In the next few paragraphs, I will do my best to explain how plate tectonics play a key role in earthquake creation and how earthquakes create tsunamis. Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth 's outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle. The mantle is the rocky inner layer above the core of the Earth. The plates act like a hard and rigid shell compared to Earth 's mantle and this strong outer layer is called the lithosphere.

The basic motion of the plates is horizontal. They can occur underwater or on land, and crust is neither destroyed nor created. In general, all of these boundaries play a key role in the plate tectonics and the development of earthquakes. These sometimes deadly earthquakes can result in tsunamis if they take place near the water. While an earthquake is happening underground, the plate tectonic shift in the body of water causes the enormous wave(s) that are known as tsunamis. These tsunamis are deadly and can kill thousands depending on how big they are. Most tsunamis stay in the 10-30 foot range but some have been recorded to reach heights such as 100 feet. The Indian Ocean has recorded the most 30 foot tsunamis. Many tsunamis can be detected before they hit land and the casualties can be minimized with the use of modern technology. Seismographs are common in tsunami detection. They are computerized offshore buoys that can measure changes in wave height, and let out a system of sirens on the beach to alert people of potential tsunami danger. Seismographs also detect earthquakes; hence, why earthquakes are also known as seismic

Tsunamis are capable of traveling over 600 miles per hour. A regular wave in the ocean can travel up to about 90 kilometers per hour.
An interesting thing about earthquakes and tsunamis is that if an earthquake occurs not too far away, it really shouldn’t create a tsunami. Tsunamis are created by the underwater earthquakes and by a closer plate tectonic shift. One thing that is needed to create a tsunami is a close earthquake. The next thing that would be necessary to create a tsunami would be a vertical disturbance. A good example of this water movement is with a book and a bath tub. “There is a bathtub full of water and a hard-backed book. If you dip the book into the bathwater spine-first and move the book back and forth longways, what do you observe? Not much, except you 've ruined your book. Now if you hold the book with its flat side on the surface of the water and move the book up and down in the water, you should generate some big waves as the vertical motion you 've imposed on the water column is transferred to horizontal motion as the wave travels away from the source.” This is basically how a tsunami is generated. This explains how tsunamis and earthquakes are affected by vertical motions, not