Intraplate earthquake

The term intraplate earthquake refers to a variety of earthquake that occurs within the interior of a tectonic plate; this stands in contrast to an interplate earthquake, which occurs at the boundary of a tectonic plate.

Intraplate earthquakes are relatively rare compared to the more familiar boundary-located interplate earthquakes. Therefore, large intraplate earthquakes can inflict heavy damage with such areas' structures lacking seismic retrofitting. Examples of damaging intraplate earthquakes are the devastating Gujarat earthquake in 2001, the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes, the 2017 Puebla earthquake, the 1811–1812 earthquakes in New Madrid, Missouri, and the 1886 earthquake in Charleston, South Carolina.[1]

Fault zones within tectonic plates


By definition, intraplate earthquakes do not occur near plate boundaries, but along faults in the normally stable interior of plates.[2] These earthquakes often occur at the location of ancient failed rifts, because such old structures may present a weakness in the crust where it can easily slip to accommodate regional tectonic strain.





In 2017, the 24–29 km deep magnitude 6.5 Botswana earthquake that shook eastern Botswana occurred at over 300 km from the nearest active plate boundary.[4] The event occurred in an underpopulated area of Botswana.

The 1888 earthquake in Río de la Plata was also an intraplate quake.[5]


Many cities live with the seismic risk of a rare, large intraplate earthquake. The cause of these earthquakes is often uncertain. In many cases, the causative fault is deeply buried,[4] and sometimes cannot even be found. Some studies have shown that it can be caused by fluids moving up the crust along ancient fault zones.[4][6] Under these circumstances it is difficult to calculate the exact seismic hazard for a given city, especially if there was only one earthquake in historical times. Some progress is being made in understanding the fault mechanics driving these earthquakes.

Intraplate earthquakes may be unrelated to ancient fault zones and instead caused by deglaciation or erosion.[7]



See also


  1. Hough, Susan E.; Seeber, Leonardo; Armbruster, John G. (October 2003). "Intraplate Triggered Earthquakes: Observations and Interpretation". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. Seismological Society of America. 101 (3): 2212–2221. Bibcode:2003BuSSA..93.2212H. CiteSeerX doi:10.1785/0120020055.
  2. Yang, Xiaotao (2014). "Seismicity of the Ste. Genevieve Seismic Zone based on Observations from the EarthScope OIINK Flexible Array". Seismological Research Letters. 85 (6): 1285–1294. doi:10.1785/0220140079.
  3. Penick, James L. The New Madrid Earthquakes. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1981. ISBN 0-8262-0344-2
  4. Kolawole, F.; Atekwana, E. A.; Malloy, S.; Stamps, D. S.; Grandin, R.; Abdelsalam, M. G.; Leseane, K.; Shemang, E. M. (2017-09-09). "Aeromagnetic, gravity, and Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar analyses reveal the causative fault of the 3 April 2017 Mw6.5 Moiyabana, Botswana, earthquake". Geophysical Research Letters. 44 (17): 8837–8846. Bibcode:2017GeoRL..44.8837K. doi:10.1002/2017gl074620. ISSN 0094-8276.
  5. Benavídes Sosa, Alberto (1998). "Seismicidad y seismotectónica en Uruguay". Física de la Tierra (in Spanish) (10): 167–186.
  6. Gardonio, B.; Jolivet, R.; Calais, E.; Leclère, H. (2018-07-13). "The April 2017 Mw6.5 Botswana Earthquake: An Intraplate Event Triggered by Deep Fluids" (PDF). Geophysical Research Letters. 45 (17): 8886–8896. doi:10.1029/2018gl078297. ISSN 0094-8276.
  7. Shobe, Charlie (18 December 2018). "Can Rivers Cause Earthquakes?". Scientific American. Retrieved 26 December 2018.

Further reading
