Plate Tectonics

You have always heard that the Earth is moving, right? Well, not only is it rotating every 24 hours and revolving around the Sun once every 365 (and 1/4) days, the land is also moving! There are large masses of land called plates that move around constantly because of the Earth's thermal (heat) energy.
These plates are kind of like the "skin" on the planet. Now, when you think about these plates moving, don't get too excited. They are not moving too much. In fact, these plates only move about a few centimeters a year.

It is not a lot, but sometimes it doesn't take much movement to cause a lot of trouble for lots of people. The places where these plates touch is not exactly the same as the continents that we all know about. Here is a picture of the "plates" around the planet. The plates are the outlines in red.

Depending on where the boundaries are (where they touch) kind of decides what movement happens when these plates are sliding around. Many times we are not aware of these movements, but many of these "small" movements can cause earthquakes. Most earthquakes are very minor, but sometimes they can be very devastating, causing lots of destruction, as seen in the pictures below.

                                                                                    

 

An earthquake in Cuba causes major damage to a highway.

Major structure damage is caused by an earthquake in Kobe, Japan.

There is an area where one of the plates appears to be touching several different areas at the same time. This is called "The Ring of Fire", and is the area where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions happen on our planet. You can see all the different land masses that are affected around the world by this "Ring of Fire." This area is in constant motion and activity.

Enjoy this short video by Bill Nye, where he explains a little about Plate Tectonics.