Greece Plate Boundaries

Greece is located in an area of the world where there are multiple plate boundaries, sitting in between Europe and Asia. Because Greece's setting, it sits on the Aegean Sea Plate, however this small plate, which can also be called the Hellenic Plate, is near both the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate. That being said, Greece is near the plate boundaries of both the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate. (Image below)

The southern part of the Aegean Plate, near Crete, is considered a subduction zone because the African Plate pushes beneath is. (1) As a refresher, a subduction zone is a "place where two lithospheric plates come together, one riding over the other." (2) In the case of Greece, the southern part of the Aegean Plate 'rides over' the northern part of the African Plate. Because of this motion, there are many shallow and normal earthquakes along this southern Aegean plate boundary, as well as having caused the formation of the Hellenic Arc which is made up of both active and inactive volcanoes. (3)  For example, the Santorini Volcano, one of the most active ones, last erupting in 1950.

(Image of the Santorini Volcano eruption)

(Image of the aftermath of Athens 5.2 earthquake)

At the north part of the Aegean Plate is the Eurasian Plate, there is a divergent boundary, which is when "two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other" and this creates a space that is filled with new crustal material sourced from molten magma that forms below. (4) This kind of seismic activity not only causes earthquakes but also caused the formation of the Gulf of Corinth. (5)

Sources:

• Image 1: http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/maps/basemaps/

• Image 2: http://www.greece-is.com/born-of-fire/

• Image 3: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/583178/Greece-earthquake-violent-5-2-magnitude-tremor-rattles-capital-Athens

• Source 1: https://www.revolvy.com/topic/Aegean%20Sea%20Plate&uid=1575

• Source 2: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/glossary/?term=subduction%20zone

• Source 3: https://watchers.news/2012/01/28/increasing-seismic-activities-in-aegean-sea-greece-with-tectonic-summary/

• Source 4 and 5: https://www.revolvy.com/topic/Divergent%20boundary&item_type=topic