The December 7, 2015 M 7.2 earthquake in Tajikistan occurred as the result of strike-slip faulting within the crust of the Eurasia plate. Focal mechanisms indicate rupture occurred on either a northwest-southeast striking right-lateral fault, or on a southwest-northeast striking left-lateral fault.
At the latitude of this earthquake, the India plate is moving northwards with respect to Eurasia at the rate of approximately 38 mm/yr. The earthquake is located in hundreds of kilometers north of the India : Eurasia plate boundary, in the Pamir Mountains. The collision of these two plates drives the tectonics of the broad region surrounding the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, and causes uplift that produces the highest mountain peaks in the world, including the Himalayan, the Karakoram, the Pamir and the Hindu Kush ranges.
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