FWIW .... Japan's 7.3 and Chile/Nazca 8.8

Any one find these two quakes to be interesting in that they were about 6 hours apart and almost on directly opposite each other on opposing sides of the Pacific?

Bill Silver Eagle wrote:Any one find these two quakes to be interesting in that they were about 6 hours apart and almost on directly opposite each other on opposing sides of the Pacific?

Now that you mention it I couldn't help but wonder if the chile area is a subduction zone, pushing into South America, is it pulling away from the Japan side?

Bill Silver Eagle wrote:Any one find these two quakes to be interesting in that they were about 6 hours apart and almost on directly opposite each other on opposing sides of the Pacific?

Bill, I just noticed that earlier there was a quake in the phillipines and about an hour later there are now three aftershocks in chile...it seems as though the entire pacific plate is either moving east or at least is being affected at both ends....just an observation.

Vladimir wrote:

Bill Silver Eagle wrote:Any one find these two quakes to be interesting in that they were about 6 hours apart and almost on directly opposite each other on opposing sides of the Pacific?

Now that you mention it I couldn't help but wonder if the chile area is a subduction zone, pushing into South America, is it pulling away from the Japan side?

Hi Vladimir. The Chile quake was a subduction quake with just a trace of right lateral strike slip. The “East Pacific Rise” is very similar to the Atlantic Ridge where magma is coming to the surface which is the driving force of the Pacific plate. The Mariana Trench is the location where the western edge of the Pacific plate dives back down into the mantle.

Japan is comprised of 4 plates. Those plates are the North American plate, the Pacific plate, the Eurasian plate and the Philippine plate. This is why Japan has so many earthquakes and volcanoes.

The Ring of Fire is a direct consequence of plate tectonics and the movement and collisions of crustal plates.

The eastern section of the ring is the result of the Nazca Plate and the Cocos Plate being subducted beneath the westward moving South American Plate.

A portion of the Pacific Plate along with the small Juan de Fuca Plate are being subducted beneath the North American Plate. Along the northern portion the northwestward moving Pacific plate is being subducted beneath the Aleutian Islands arc.

Further west the Pacific plate is being subducted along the Kamchatka - Kurile Islands arcs on south past Japan. The southern portion is more complex with a number of smaller tectonic plates in collision with the Pacific plate from the Mariana Islands, the Philippines, Bougainville, Tonga, and New Zealand.

Indonesia lies between the Ring of Fire along the northeastern islands adjacent to and including New Guinea and the Alpide belt along the south and west from Sumatra, Java, Bali, Flores, and Timor. The Australian plate is the driving force for all of the volcanoes and earthquakes in the area of Indonesia.

The plates are always moving. Plates move in different directions, change direction over time, and move at different rates. The Pacific and Cocos plates are the fastest moving and the Arabian and southern African plates are the slowest. The Pacific plate is moving northwest while the North American plate is rotating counterclockwise. If nothing happens to change the present plate movement you will one day be able to drive from what ever State is located where California is now to Australia by using a bridge. You may not even need a bridge. Take Care...Don