Earthquake Locations and Tectonic Plates

Earthquakes primarily occur in areas close to tectonic plates, where the Earth's crust is divided into large sections.

A tectonic plate boundary is where two tectonic plates meet, interacting in various ways such as colliding, sliding, or moving apart.

A transform fault is a type of fault where the relative motion is predominantly horizontal and parallel to the strike of the fault.

A divergent boundary is where two tectonic plates move away from each other, leading to the upwelling of magma from the mantle to create new crust.

When two tectonic plates collide, resulting in one plate being forced beneath the other in a process called subduction. This often occurs when an oceanic plate meets a continental plate.