Among the most dramatic and visible creations of plate-tectonic forces are the lofty Himalayas, which stretch 1800 miles along the border between India and Tibet. This immense mountain range began to form when two large landmasses, India and Eurasia, driven by plate movement, collided. Because both of these continental landmasses have about the same rock density, one plate could not be pushed under the other. The pressure of the colliding plates could only be relieved by thrusting skyward, forming the jagged Himalayan peaks.

According to the plate tectonic theory, India was a large island situated off the Australian coast, and a vast ocean separated India from the Asian continent. When Pangaea broke apart, India began to move northward. When India rammed into Asia, its northward advance was slowed, but the two landmasses continue to push on one another and the Himalayas continue to slowly rise.

At present, the movement of India continues to put enormous pressure on the Asian continent, and Tibet in turn presses on the landmass to the north that is hemming it in. The effect of plate tectonics forces acting on this region is to squeeze parts of Asia eastward toward the Pacific Ocean. One serious consequence of these processes is a deadly "domino" effect: tremendous stresses build up within the earth's crust, which are relieved periodically by earthquakes along the numerous faults that scar the landscape. Some of the world's most destructive earthquakes in history are related to continuing tectonic processes that began when the Indian and Eurasian continents first met.¹