name: plate-tectonics-analysis
description: Analyzing earthquake data relative to tectonic plate boundaries using PB2002 dataset and GeoPandas.
Plate Tectonics Analysis with PB2002 Dataset
PB2002 Dataset Structure
Plates (PB2002_plates.json)
- GeoJSON FeatureCollection with Polygon geometries
- Properties include
PlateName (e.g., "PA" for Pacific)
- Each feature is a tectonic plate polygon
Boundaries (PB2002_boundaries.json)
- GeoJSON FeatureCollection with LineString geometries
- Properties:
PlateA, PlateB (2-letter plate codes), Name, Type
- Pacific plate code: "PA"
- Boundaries involving Pacific: PlateA == "PA" or PlateB == "PA"
Common Plate Codes
- PA: Pacific, NA: North America, SA: South America
- EU: Eurasia, AF: Africa, AN: Antarctica
- AU: Australia, IN: India, NZ: Nazca
Workflow: Find Earthquakes Inside a Plate
import geopandas as gpd
# Load plate polygons and earthquake points
plates = gpd.read_file("PB2002_plates.json")
earthquakes = gpd.read_file("earthquakes.json")
# Get Pacific plate polygon
pacific = plates[plates["PlateName"] == "PA"]
# Spatial join: earthquakes within Pacific plate
eq_in_pacific = gpd.sjoin(earthquakes, pacific, predicate="within")
Workflow: Get Plate Boundaries
boundaries = gpd.read_file("PB2002_boundaries.json")
# Filter boundaries of Pacific plate
pa_bounds = boundaries[
(boundaries["PlateA"] == "PA") | (boundaries["PlateB"] == "PA")
]
# Merge all boundary segments into one geometry
pa_boundary_union = pa_bounds.unary_union
Workflow: Distance from Earthquake to Plate Boundary
# Project both to a suitable CRS
proj_crs = "+proj=aeqd +lat_0=0 +lon_0=-160 +datum=WGS84 +units=m"
eq_proj = eq_in_pacific.to_crs(proj_crs)
boundary_proj = pa_bounds.to_crs(proj_crs)
boundary_union_proj = boundary_proj.unary_union
# Calculate distances
eq_proj["dist_to_boundary"] = eq_proj.geometry.distance(boundary_union_proj)
eq_proj["dist_km"] = eq_proj["dist_to_boundary"] / 1000
# Find the earthquake furthest from boundary
furthest = eq_proj.loc[eq_proj["dist_km"].idxmax()]
By