New Zealand Earthquake: When plates meet

In 4th March 2021, New Zealand was hit with a series of earthquakes ranging from magnetite 8.1 to 7.4. New Zealand is a country formed by tectonic plate movement. It is also a country plagued by tectonic plate movement.

Earthquake, Tsunami, and Volcanic eruption are all natural disasters that have haunted our civilization and our existence for millions of years. However, for long, we don't know the cause for these natural disasters. Now, we have figured out one of the biggest causes of natural disasters on this planet which is tectonic plate movement.

Mountain creation

The world's land are not a unified piece. Rather, the surface of our planet is broken into different pieces that moves around and either collides or repels against each other. When different tectonic plates repel against each other just like the South American plate against the African plate, it won't cause any big trouble such as earthquake, massive volcanic activities, or tsunami. However, when plates collide and bump into each other, one of the plate is going to slide beneath another and thus elevated the plate that is being collided. An example of it could be the Himalayans where the Indian plate moved North and collided with the Eurasian plate which resulted in the formation of the Himalayas mountains. Similar effects could be found in Europe, South America, etc.

(The Himlaya mountain that was formed by the collision of the India plate moving north and the Eurasian plate. )

Earthquakes

Earthquakes are the phenomenon where the surface of our Earth crumbles and fluctuates. It is commonly caused by the internal cracking or breaking or the tectonic plate or the collision between the plates. When the plates move or collide with each other, they create an energy wave that increases as the collision spans on. There is a point where the plate cannot sustain a stable ground where the ground brakes and release Seismic Wave which is the energy that originated and sustained by earthquakes. The ground shaking is the biggest phenomena of earthquake and the effect of it could span for decades causing small quakes which resales the leftover energy created by the collision of the plates or the internal cracking of a plate. One of the examples of the earthquake caused by the collisions of different tectonic plate is the 1960 Valdivia earthquake that struck Chile. That earthquake is the strongest earthquake the humans have ever recorded reaching 9.6 magnitude. The earthquake was created by a strong force of the breaking A sudden breaking in the rocks along a roughly 560–620-mile (900–1,000-km) stretch of the Nazca Plate and the collision between it and the South American Plate.

Tsunamis

Tsunamis and Earthquakes are linked to each-other. Tsunamis is a series of extremely high and long waves that creates a sudden disposal of the ocean. It looks like the water in the ocean forms a wall and the wall fell on the ground. The Tsunamis is commonly caused by tectonic plate collision which resulted in the land under the water rising or cracking which thus raises the water which overflows to the ground.

Volcanos

Volcanic activities is one of the most important phenomenon caused by tectonic plate movements. It has caused several mass extinctions in the history of this planet and the energy and damage it creates is so spread out to the point that one volcanic eruption could end our civilization from existing on this planet globally. Volcanos are little isolated "mountains" that is caused by the eruption of lavas. beneath the surface of earth hid a layer filled with lava which is the liquid created by the rocks being molten by the inter cell of the planet or moon. The lava layer normally has no connection to the surface since it is beneath the surface and is blocked by the rocks beneath. However, when two tectonic plates meet, one plate moves under the other which pushes the magma to the top. The extreme point of the magma being pushed upward finally meets its boiling point and and lavas reached the ground.