§ Earthquakes occur when any of the plates
collide at their boundaries.
§ Scientists now believe that one plate that
comprised the landmass from India
to Australia has broken up into
two. The initial 8.9 eruption happened
near the
location of the meeting point
of the Australian, Indian and Burmese plates.
§ Scientists have shown that this is a region
of compression as the Australian plate
is rotating counterclockwise
into the Indian plate.
§ This
also means that a region of seismic activity has become active in the
South Eastern Indian Ocean.
§ The
Tsunami originated in a subduction zone, to a length of 1200km and
a breadth of 100km, over a
depth of 20m.
§