ALPIDE BELT - GEOGRAPHY
News: Why are earthquakes in
Afghanistan so frequent?
What's in the news?
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Afghanistan lies on the Alpine-Himalayan belt, a
region that runs along two tectonic plates: the Indian Plate in the south and
the Eurasian Plate in the north.
Alpide Belt
(Alpine-Himalayan Orogenic Belt):
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The Alpide belt is the second most seismically active region globally, after the
circum-Pacific belt.
Important Takeaways:
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It is a young mountain belt that runs from the Atlantic to the Himalayas.
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The Alpide belt formed when the Tethys Ocean closed due to the
collision of the African, Arabian, and Indian Plates with the Eurasian Plate.
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The collision of the plates along the convergent
plate boundary results in frequent seismic activities.
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The collision of the plates along the convergent
plate boundary results in frequent seismic activities.
Go back to basics:
Fault Lines:
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A fault line is a line on a rock surface or the
ground that traces a geological fault.
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A fault is a fracture in the Earth’s crust where
two blocks of rock moves relative to each other.
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If the rock blocks move rapidly, it releases energy
which causes earthquakes.
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One of the factors due to which fault occurs is plate collision.
● Afghanistan is located on top of a number of fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian plates meet.