Taiwan rocked by earthquake of magnitude 7.4, biggest in 25 years | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Taiwan rocked by earthquake of magnitude 7.4, biggest in 25 years

Posted 04 Apr 2024

2 min read

  • Quake occurred as result of reverse faulting near boundary between Eurasia and Philippine Sea plates.
    • A reverse fault is a split between two sections of rock in Earth's crust, caused by compressional forces
  • Notably, Taiwan is prone to earthquakes as it lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire” or Circum-Pacific Belt. 

 

  • Ring of Fire: 
    • It is a horseshoe-shaped string of volcanoes and sites of seismic activity around the edges of Pacific Ocean. 
    • Roughly 90% of all earthquakes occur along Ring of Fire, and it has 75% of all active volcanoes on Earth.
    • It is the result of plate tectonics as it traces the meeting points of numerous tectonic plates, including the Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Indian-Australian, Nazca, North American, and Philippine Plates.
    • Much of the volcanic activity occurs along subduction zones, which are convergent plate boundaries.
      • As heavier plate is subducted under other plate, it melts and produces magma that erupts as volcano.
    • A stretch of Ring of Fire - border between Pacific and North American Plates – is a transform boundary, where plates move sideways past one another.
      • This boundary generates large number of earthquakes as tension in Earth’s crust builds up and is released. 

 

  • Tags :
  • Earthquake
  • convergent plate boundaries
  • Ring of Fire
  • Transform Boundary
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