The South American plate is a tectonic plate that spans South America. It begins on the Pacific coast of this region and extends to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean at the southern limit.
The entire surface of the planet is covered by plates, which are arranged like a large puzzle. That is, the end or limit of one plate is the beginning of another, and thus they are all embedded within the surface layer of the Earth.
The dividing lines between each of the plates are called geological faults. There are large faults, such as the San Andrés fault, which spans part of the north of the South American plate.
Main features
Limits
The South American plate is bordered on the north by the Caribbean plate and the North American plate. To the south it meets the Antarctic plate.
On the west side it borders the Nazca plate, named in honor of the Nazca region in Peru, whose only seafront is the Pacific Ocean.
On the east side, the South American plate borders the African plate, in the southern part of the Atlantic Sea.
Geological faults and earthquakes
The plates are always in constant motion. The South American plate moves up to 21 millimeters per year in some of its areas.
When one or more plates move against each other, a great movement of the earth's surface is generated, causing so-called earthquakes or tremors, depending on the magnitude. These are measured with the Richter seismological scale, according to which 10 is the highest value.
Due to the union of the Nazca plate with the South American plate along the entire Pacific coast, the Andean Cordillera region from Chile to Colombia is considered highly seismic, and its bifurcation in Venezuela.
This fault is also known as the Pacific Fire Belt, because it exhibits frequent seismic activity due to the intense movement of the faults within and between the plates.
Ecuador has a subdivision of the Nazca plate, which borders the South American plate and causes it to have intense seismic movement. In 2016 this country had a major earthquake near the Pacific coast.
Colombia is another country that has high seismic risk and is located in the South American region, within the South American plate.
In 1999 there was an earthquake in the city of Armenia, and it is considered the most lethal in Colombian history.
Peru and Chile also have significant flaws. In the Peruvian case, the 1970 earthquake in the city of Áncash ended with a balance of more than 70,000 deaths.
In the Chilean case, the strongest tremor recorded was in 1960, in the south of the country. An earthquake of great proportions also affected the country in 2010.
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- Image N1: Beyond My Ken. Recovered from the site: commons.wikimedia.org