Okhotsk Plate

[ oh-kotsk pleyt; Russian uh-khawtsk ]

noun

, Geology.

1. a minor tectonic plate formerly thought to be an extension of the North American Plate but now known to exist independently, covering areas of far eastern Russia (including Kamchatka and Sakhalin), northern Japan (including Hokkaido and Honshu), the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Kuril Islands.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Okhotsk Plate¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

He carried out a comprehensive analysis of all of the large earthquakes that were recorded in sufficient detail, between June 2002 and April 2018 along about 1,100 kilometres of the Japan Trench — a subduction zone, in which the Pacific Plate beneath the Pacific Ocean is being pushed under the Okhotsk Plate beneath Japan.

From Nature

Although measurements from satellites and seismic ground sensors had indicated the Okhotsk Plate moved after the 9.0 temblor on March 11, the extent of the movement was not clear.

From Scientific American

So if the Okhotsk plate shifted 50 meters at the trench, what happened at Japan’s eastern shore?

From Scientific American