The Sichuan earthquake occurred as a result of three plates, Himalayan Plate, Northern Chinese Plate and the Southern Chinese Plate. These three plates collided at the same time at the Sichuan Basin. The Sichuan Basin is located at the epicenter of the quake, in other words in Wenchuan.
The Northern Chinese Plate and the Southern Chinese Plate created a destructive margin, considering the size of the plates, the collision already made an earthquake. Scientist has suggested that, the collision of these two plates already made an earthquake of around 6.0 on the Richter scale. Unfortunately, adding to the severity, the Himalayan Plate crashed into the two other plates at almost the exact same time. Therefore the key factor of the severity of this earthquake was the Himalayan Plate.
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