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The Caribbean plate is a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the northern coast of South America. Roughly 3.2 million square kilometres (1.2 million square miles) in area, the Caribbean plate borders the North American plate , the South American plate , the Nazca plate and the Cocos plate .
The oceanic Nazca plate subducts beneath the continental South American plate at the Peru–Chile Trench. Just north of the Nazca plate, the oceanic Cocos plate subducts under the Caribbean plate and forms the Middle America Trench. Oceanic crust of the South American plate subducts under the Caribbean plate in the Lesser Antilles subduction zone.
The tsunami triggered by the mainshock was large and corresponded with a tsunami magnitude (M t ) of 8.7. Estimates of the moment magnitude range from 8.3 to 8.6. [11] The length of the plate boundary that ruptured during the earthquake is estimated to be 300 to 450 km (190 to 280 mi). [12]
The earthquake occurred along the boundary between the Malpelo plate, formerly considered the northeastern part of the Nazca plate, and the North Andes plate.The earthquake is likely to be a result of thrust-faulting, caused by the subduction of the Coiba, Malpelo and Nazca plates beneath the North Andes and South American plates.
Only about 12 hours after the initial eruption, tsunami waves a few feet. On Jan. 15, 2022, coastal areas across California were placed under a tsunami warning. Gado via Getty ImagesOn Jan. 15 ...
Map showing Earth's principal tectonic plates and their boundaries in detail. These plates comprise the bulk of the continents and the Pacific Ocean.For purposes of this list, a major plate is any plate with an area greater than 20 million km 2 (7.7 million sq mi)
This plate boundary has been the location of several great historical earthquakes, most associated with damaging tsunamis. In 1906, a 5–600 km long segment of the plate interface ruptured, causing a M 8.8 earthquake (rupturing all four segments) and a trans-Pacific tsunami.
The largest recorded megathrust earthquake was the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, estimated between magnitudes 9.4–9.6, centered off the coast of Chile along the Peru-Chile Trench, where the Nazca plate subducts under the South American plate. [26] This megathrust region has regularly generated extremely large earthquakes.