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Earth’s oldest known earthquake was probably triggered by plate tectonics

The quake dates to more than 3 billion years ago

Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa

The Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa contains remnants of ancient underwater landslides. Such landslides often result from massive earthquakes driven by plate tectonics.

Simon Lamb

By Lucas Van Wyk Joel

Scientists studying rocks in South Africa report evidence for the earliest known earthquake triggered by plate tectonics. The temblor struck more than 3 billion years ago.

The rocks preserve telltale signs of ancient submarine landslides that tend to occur in response to giant earthquakes set off by some collisions of slabs of the planet’s crust, geologists Cornel de Ronde and Simon Lamb report February 27 in Geology.