Himalayan earth quake

Subject: Geography

Context:

Geophysicist Roger Bilham has said Himalayas the only place in the world where a large quake can occur on land

Concept:

• In both C-C convergence and C-O convergence, there is the formation of fold mountains and frequent occurrence of earthquakes.
• This is because of the sudden release of friction between the subducting plate and up thrust plate.
• In C-C convergence, the denser plate pushes into the less dense plate creating a fault zone along the margin.
• Further collision leads to the sudden release of energy along this fault zone generating disastrous earthquakes (shallow-focus earthquakes).
• Volcanism is observed only in C-O convergence and is almost absent in C-C convergence.