It is difficult to see how this applies to the ridge in the South Atlantic, where neither the African nor the American plate has a sinking part.

很难看出这如何适用于南大西洋的山脊，在那里，非洲板块和美洲板块都没有下沉的部分。

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This huge jolt happened as the Nazca plate moved down and landward below the South American plate.

这次巨大的摇晃发生在纳斯卡板块下移，向南美板块下的近陆移动。

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Scientists say the Pacific plate is moving toward the northwest, while the North American plate is moving more to the southeast.

VOA: special.2010.01.12

But on that fateful Friday, when the North American plate slid over the Pacific plate along a subduction zone running 130km (80 miles) off the Pacific coast of northern Japan, the shock leapt from the first segment to a second and on to a third, extending the fault zone some 400km and increasing its intensity more than 30-fold.

ECONOMIST: The myth and reality of the Japanese earthquake

There is no question that one of the 5 most powerful earthquakes on record (which forced the North American tectonic plate eastward by 66 feet), combined with 6-meter tsunami waves, creates a terrifying and formidable obstacle for energy facilities.

FORBES: What's Next For Japan: The Short and Long Term

Mr. JOHN NALAND (President, American Foreign Service Association): The Foreign Service has stepped up to the plate to staff Iraq, and the view is that our senior leadership has not stepped up to the plate to get the Foreign Service the resources we need.

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