CAUSE OF tHE HAITI EARTHQUAKE
PLATE BOUNDARIES
There are three main types of plate boundaries:
Constructive plate boundary:
At a constructive plate boundary, two plates move apart from each other. As the plates move apart magma rises through the gap, and cools, this boundary creates new land. Destructive plate boundary
At a destructive plate boundary, two plates move towards one another, destructive plate boundaries create mountains. Conservative (transform) plate boundary At a conservative plate boundary the plates move horizontally past each other, without creating or destroying any of the earth's crust. |
THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE
Earthquakes are caused by movement in the earth's tectonic plates.
Haiti is situated to the north of the Caribbean plate, on a transform or conservative plate boundary. In the case of the Haiti earthquake, the Caribbean and north american plates slid past one another causing friction, therefore creating an earthquake. The Caribbean and north american plates constantly creep past one another each year (about 0.8 inches a year), the north american plate is moving west and the Caribbean plate is moving north respectively.
The Haiti earthquake occurred along the southern fault, on the enriquillo-plantain garden fault system, stress has known to be building up within this fault system, when the strain finally grew too large, 48-96 km of the rock along the fault failed and gave way causing a sudden release of energy at a depth of 13km beneath the ground. This huge burst of energy within less than a minute not only triggered the original quake, but it also generated more than a dozen after shocks of a magnitude higher than 5.
Image 2: Plate boundary types
Haiti is situated to the north of the Caribbean plate, on a transform or conservative plate boundary. In the case of the Haiti earthquake, the Caribbean and north american plates slid past one another causing friction, therefore creating an earthquake. The Caribbean and north american plates constantly creep past one another each year (about 0.8 inches a year), the north american plate is moving west and the Caribbean plate is moving north respectively.
The Haiti earthquake occurred along the southern fault, on the enriquillo-plantain garden fault system, stress has known to be building up within this fault system, when the strain finally grew too large, 48-96 km of the rock along the fault failed and gave way causing a sudden release of energy at a depth of 13km beneath the ground. This huge burst of energy within less than a minute not only triggered the original quake, but it also generated more than a dozen after shocks of a magnitude higher than 5.
Image 2: Plate boundary types