It's on a destructive margin (a margin where land/crust is destroyed by it being pushed down under another plate, where the plates are moving together). Over time, the volcanic activity at this margin has made Japan, in the same way that Hawaii was formed. Unfortunately, because the earth still shifts a lot, Japan is constantly threatened by severe earthquakes. Earthquakes in the past have killed hundreds of thousands of people. Japan is in the same situation as California, which is right along the San Andreas fault.
Since then this idea has evolved into the theory of plate tectonics. It is still a theory as it is difficult to prove the concept of plate tectonics. The deepest drilling into the earth’s crust was only about 12km deep which wasn’t deep enough to get to the mantle. Nevertheless, there is considerable evidence that supports the theory, volcanic and seismic events have provided evidence which has shaped our understanding of plate tectonics today. Seismicity (or earthquakes) is the shaking of the earth and it is strongly associated with the theory of plate tectonics.
The main area hit was San Francisco yet, it did affect almost all of the San Andrea’s Fault. Damage and casualties after the San Francisco earthquake were devastating, 498 deaths in San Francisco, 64 deaths in Santa Rosa and 102 deaths near San Jose. 225,000 from a population of around 400,000 were homeless. 28,188 wood and brick buildings were also destroyed by the
This earthquake was named Loma Prieta earthquake and occurred at a time of 5:04 (PDT) with a magnitude measurement of 6.9 and a surface wave magnitude of 7.1. The earthquake was caused by a slip in slip in San Andreas or a subsidiary and its epicenter was located ten miles northeast of the city Santa Cruz. The earthquake had also had a death toll of 62 people with the number of injured people reaching a amount of 3,757 ! Not only this however the earthquake had cost California approximately 6.8 billion dollars. This was because of many fires, houses with severe damages, and buildings with severe damages.
China, Sichuan earthquake 2008 Location: On the afternoon of May 12, 2008, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan Province, which is 92 km to the north-west of Chengdu City, a mountainous region in Western China, killing about 80,000 people and leaving over 18,000 missing. Over 15 million people lived in the affected area, including almost 4 million in the city of Chengdu. http://sergiu.turcanu.net/strong-earthquake-hits-china/map-of-the-sichuan-earthquake/ Causes: The earthquake was caused by the collision between two tectonic plates, the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate.This collision, is the cause of the high mountains and widespread seismicity observed throughout central Asia. The area of dense circles between India and Asia covers a wide region that is undergoing large strain and deformation. It is this strain that led to the Sichuan quake.
Evaluate how plate tectonics theory helps our understanding of the distribution of seismic and volcanic events The theory of plate tectonics is actually a relatively new idea. It was only developed in the last 100 years and has now been widely accepted as the explanation for the cause of earthquakes and volcanoes and where on the Earth they occur. This has now replaced the original theory that tectonic events such as earthquakes and volcanoes were caused by God and his will. This was the theory in most western countries before plate tectonics theory. The main theory of plate tectonics was first developed by a German called Alfred Wegener in 1912.
St. Helens is a very closely monitored volcano due to its previous eruptions. It is one the most seismically active volcanoes in the Washington and Oregon Cascades. Since establishing a full seismic monitoring network in 1980 the millions of
How erosion formed the Grand Canyon How erosion formed the Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon was created by the action of the Colorado River over about 6 million years of erosion. The Colorado River basin has developed in the past 40 million years and the Grand Canyon itself is probably less than 6 million years old. The formation of the Grand Canyon was accomplished by the constant erosion of the rock by the Colorado River over some 17 million years. Over time the river was able to carve a very deep channel into the Colorado Plateau. The rock layers in the Grand Canyon range from 250 million to about 2 billion years old.
Effects The effects of this earthquake were catastrophic for an MEDC. Despite some buildings having been made earthquake proof during recent years many of the older buildings simply toppled over or collapsed. A lot of the traditional wooden buildings survived the earthquake but burnt down in fires caused by broken gas and electricity lines. Other effects included: More than 5000 died in the quake 300,000 were made home less More than 102,000 buildings were destroyed in Kobe, especially the older wooden buildings. Estimated cost to rebuild the basics = £100 billion.
The earthquake was felt in surrounding regions including Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas and the borderingDominican Republic. After the earthquake, many aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater were recorded. The earthquake had an intensity of IX on the Mercalli scale. An estimated three million people were affected by the earthquake; 316 000 people died, 300 000 injured and 1 000 000 people were made homeless. The infrastructure was badly damaged with 90% of the buildings damaged.