to caution! 5 cities where earthquakes are most likely to occur

On February 6 of this year, a series of earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria. So far, there is news that there have been about 33,000 deaths combined in the two countries, as well as thousands of injured.

The earthquakes were so destructive because the place where they occurred was the meeting point of three tectonic plates, causing intense tremors.

For those who don’t know, tectonic plates are huge pieces of Earth’s crust that move over a mantle of plasma.

Because of these fault points between plates and their movements, there are three types of boundaries between plates, known as: divergent boundaries (when plates move apart), convergent boundaries (when plates collide) and shift boundaries (when they slide past each other).

This difference, together with morphological differences, constitutes different types of natural phenomena, such as earthquakesfaults, and volcanic activity.

Unfortunately, many towns, even great cities, were built on or near some of these boundaries, either from a lack of knowledge of the geological situation or from a lack of sites. With that in mind, the list below shows some of the cities most prone to earthquakes.

The five cities most at risk of earthquakes

1. Los Angeles – United States

It is impossible to start anywhere other than Los Angeles. Thanks to the movie and popular imagination, many believe that the San Andreas Fault could open up the city at any moment.

However, this is far from the case. The truth is, yes, San Andreas is very prone to earthquakes because it sits on a diversion boundary, which causes a lot of tremors due to the friction created by the plates sliding laterally against each other.

2. Tokyo – Japan

As for the Japanese capital, it is very close to the collision point of three tectonic plates, and as happened in Turkey and Syria, it is prone to large-scale earthquakes.

In addition to the proximity of this point, there is another point of collision between three plates, in the ocean, near the country, which can cause marine earthquakes, and therefore tsunamis.

3. Manila – Philippines

Almost the entire Pacific region is at high risk of earthquakes. This is caused by the well-known Ring of Fire, a designation given at the expense of the various borders that “surround” the Pacific Ocean.

Therefore, the capital of the Philippines is another point with a high propensity for earthquakes and tsunamis.

4. Jakarta – Indonesia

Like the previous two examples, Jakarta is located on the Ring of Fire. Therefore, it is particularly biased towards the occurrence of earthquakes and minor tremors.

Its location is between two tectonic plates that are in a state of shock, which can cause large tremors of enormous destructive power.

5. Kathmandu – Nepal

Despite being a place with a lot of inclination, the Fire Circle does not have the privacy of slab collisions. Another place that contains significant seismic energy is the Himalayan arc.

By the way, one of the largest mountains in the world, its size is due to the collision of two continental plates which gave the place the height it has today.

Logically, since this is the collision of two plates, the Himalayas and the countries that occupy them have a high tendency to earthquakes, like the capital of Nepal.