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Historic Disasters That Were Way Worse Than People Think

Khalid Elhassan April 6, 2020 33 min

Yellow River - 1887 Yellow River flood — 1887 Yellow River Flood. Hakai Magazine

26. Plate Tectonics Have It In For China

Plate tectonic pressures on China. Quora

According to plate tectonic theory, the earth’s crust consists of several plates floating on top of molten magma. As the tectonic plates slide over that magma, moving away from or colliding with each other, they produce earthquakes and volcanic activity. Most of China sits atop a major tectonic plate: the Amurian Plate, which is part of the Eurasian Plate.

Tectonic plates surrounding China. Quora

However, in an arc stretching around China and gripping it in a pincer, are the North American Plate, the Philippine Plate, and the Indian Plate, whose collision with China formed the Himalayas. As those plates converge upon China, they pinch and squeeze it from multiple sides, causing its crust to warp hundreds of miles away from the plate boundaries. That tectonic activity is why the world’s highest plateau is located in China, and why the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, is on China’s doorstep.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.