Japan

Attention travelers going to Japan.  There has just been a 9.0 earthquake with major aftershocks.  This has also created a 30 foot tsunami so move to higher grounds if any other earthquake happens. The location is at  38°19'19.20"N, 142°22'8.40"E.  This is the 7th biggest earthquake on record.















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This earthquake was caused by subduction. Subduction is caused when one plate goes underneath the other, in this case an ocean under a continental. This creates a trench and a volcanic mountain range that formed Japan.  Unfortunately there are also a lot of earthquakes and these faults.  At this boundary there has been a significant history of major earthquakes.  This has made Japan one of the most earthquake ready nations but they still couldn't hold up to this.  This was a crushing blow and please donate to Japan.

http://www.platetectonics.com/book/images/Subduction2.gif