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Intraplate quakes signal tectonic breakup

April temblors part of massive ongoing energy release near Indonesia

By Alexandra Witze

- More than 2 years ago

Two giant earthquakes in the eastern Indian Ocean have shown geologists that breaking up is easy to do — for tectonic plates, that is.

Two April earthquakes (red stars) off the coast of Sumatra are indicators of the ongoing breakup of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate. Over millions of years, the split will put India and Australia on different courses.