Dubai - Solomon & Vanuatu Islands—Earthquakes & Tectonic Setting

Visit: http://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/search/animation for more animations on Earth-science topics. This is part of IRIS' Teachable Moment (www.iris.edu/retm) series for major earthquakes. The Solomon and Vanuatu Islands occupy the center of a region that is marked by a complicated arrangement of tectonic micro plates crushed between the greater Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates. It is a seismically active area of frequent large earthquakes. The Australian continent is moving northeast at a rate of ~6 cm/year with variation along the boundaries up to 13 cm/year. In the region of the Solomon and Vanuatu islands, the earthquakes are caused by the northeasterly movement of the Indo-Australian Plate as it dives beneath the Pacific Plate. Animation & graphics by Jenda Johnson, Earth Sciences Animated Reviewed by Anna Mahr Courtier