Tectonic Plates

I've mentioned my interest in tectonic plates. You might think it's a dry subject but it's quite explosive. I'm not at all interested in the death and destruction aspect of moving and shifting plates; I'm interested in why it happens.

Every time there's a big one, the media, everyday people and the doomsayers get on the same page. The experts are asked: will this happen again soon? Answer: maybe. Average Joe says: Boy there have been a lot earthquakes around the world. Guess we'll have another one soon. The Apocalypse now fold assures that it's coming soon as punishment for our sins.

The earth is made up of plates that shift. They cover a ball of fire. When the plates move, they left off steam, usually with no damage. Every so often, a volcano erupts in a big way. I've seen a number of volcanoes erupting and shooting hot lava into the sky. When tectonic plates move in such a way that a large amount of energy escapes, you get an earthquake. The strongest one I've experienced was a 7.1 that lasted for 40 seconds, nothing compared to the Japanese quake of 8.9 that lasted 2.5 minutes.

One more piece of plate info: plates can shift side to side, as the do along the San Andreas fault in California, or they can move under and over each other as they did in Japan. Either way, they can be highly destructive.

That's your lesson for the day.

To the people of Japan, my thoughts are with you.