Scotland - and The Great Glen - lie on the Great Glen fault. A fault is where two tectonic plates meet. The other half of this one is in Canada! ISLA: Well, fold mountains like these are created ...

According to the USGS, an earthquake happens due to sudden movements of tectonic plates along fault lines that separate them.

An example is the San Andreas Fault in California, United States of America. Here, it is really easy to see where the two tectonic plates meet. This map shows the world's tectonic plates.

Understanding plate tectonics is key to grasping how the Earth’s geology works and how oceans and continents came to be.

"The same physical process will take place in both cases — the explosive spring of the bent plates will release in the same ...