Plate Tectonics off the coast of BC

Map of the plates of the World

The Juan de Fuca Plate is located off the coast of British Columbia in Canada. It is a tectonic plate which has generated from the Juan de Fuca Ridge and is subducting under the northerly portion of the western side of the North American Plate at the Casacadia subduction zone. It has its origins with Panthalassa's oceanic basin and crust. This oceanic crust has primarily been subducted under the North American plate and the Eurasian Plate.The plate is bounded on the south by the Blanco Fracture Zone ( coast of Oregan,USA), on the north by the Nootka Fault (near Vancouver  Island, BC,Canada) and along the west by the Pacific Plate (which covers most of Pacific ocean). The Juan de Fuca has all three types of dynamic plate boundaries occurring within a  small area. The three types of dynamic plate boundaries are the convergent, divergent, and the transform boundaries.

Plates along the coast of Western side of North America

 Juan de Fuca plate, moves east-northwest about 4 cm per year. It is actively subducting beneath North America, its motion is not smooth. It is more sticky, and strain builds up until the fault breaks and a few meters of Juan De Fuca gets slid under North America in a big earthquake. 

Ring of Fire : area of where earthquakes and volcanoes are formed

The associated hazards with the Juan De Fuca Plates are volcanoes and earthquakes  which form from the pacific ring of fire.Faults form in rocks when the stresses overcome the internal strength of the rock resulting in a fracture. A fault can be defined as the displacement of once connected blocks along a fault plane. Below, is an example of folds and faults in British Columbia, Canada and also, in Alberta, British Columbia.

Muskwa and Sukunka River are located in British Columbia whereas Highwood River is located in Alberta