Question: why is it in only certain counrties in the world that have tsunamis and earthquakes more than others?

Asked by shaunt to Arti, Chris, Dustin, James, Steven on 18 May 2012. This question was also asked by princess3498.

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  1. Photo: James ByrneJames Byrne
    answered on 18 May 2012:

    Tsunamis and earthquakes are made by the movements of the tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust. If a country sits near one of these plate’s edges then they will experience more earthquakes and Tsunamis (a tsunami is a wave generated by an earthquake underwater.)
    Have a look at this picture and you should see that the places that get a lot of quakes (Japan,New Zealand, San Francisco) all sit near those plate edges.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plates_tect2_en.svg

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  2. Photo: Dustin WelbourneDustin Welbourne
    answered on 18 May 2012:

    Hi Shaunt,

    As James has noted, certain parts of the world are more susceptible to earthquakes than others due to where the edges of plates are.

    But also earthquakes can take place within tectonic plates, as in not near the edges.

    In order to have a tsunami, essentially you need a quake underwater (or large movement of water by volcano), so some countries are going to be more susceptible because they are coastal, or are in a position not shielded from wave movements.

    Here is a great image for Australian earthquakes, even though it is not at the edge of a plate
    http://www.quakes.uq.edu.au/html/quake_info/images/Australia_topo.jpg

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  3. Photo: Chris ScarlettChris Scarlett
    answered on 18 May 2012:

    @shaunt. James and dustin have this one. Definitely those coastal countries that are around/near techtonic plates are more likely to be affected earthquakes and consequently tsunamis. have a look at the “ring of fire” online to see the coastal regions potentially at risk.

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  4. Photo: Arti SinghArti Singh
    answered on 22 May 2012:

    Nice answers, everyone!
    I’ll just add that the place where two techtonic plates meet is called a “fault line” (because the edges of the plates moving against each other causes a fault in the Earth’s crust). Places such as Japan, New Zealand and San Francisco have a lot of earthquakes because they are situated on/very close to fault lines. This is what James said, just in a little different way.

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