Abstract
Plate tectonics has successfully explained the source of stress which generate earthquakes along the oceanic ridge and earthquakes inside “Benioff zone” beneath the continental side of the trench.
There are, however, other shallow earthquake areas with another type of epicentral distribution in the continents for which source of stress for earthquake generations has not been studied. These seismic areas are found in South Europe, Middle Asia, South Asia around Tibet Plateau, Africa and in North America. Shallow earthquakes in these areas are characterized by wide scattering in their epicentral distributions.
In the present paper, an suggestion was given from the view of plate tectonics on the source of stress which generate these continental shallow earthquakes. That is, the shallow earthquakes as well as the recent uplift of the mountain chains would both be caused due to the stress inside the continental plate the movements of which have been impeded.
