There are no volcanoes on the Australian mainland that have erupted since European settlement, but some volcanoes in Victoria, South Australia, and North Queensland were witnessed by Aboriginal people several thousand years ago.

An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves.

An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.

The Himalayas are generally divided into three ranges which are Siwalik, Greater Himalayas and Lesser Himalayas. The Karakoram or Karakorum is a large mountain range spanning the borders of Pakistan, India, and China, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Asia is the largest continent. It covers about one-third of the total land area of the earth. The continent lies in the Eastern Hemisphere. 

The movement of tectonic plates is due to the enormous amount of thermal energy generated in the inner core and transferred to the mantle thus, causing movement in the tectonic plates.

Currently, geologists are working on the theory of plate tectonics. Geologically speaking, a "plate" is a large, rigid slab of rock. The theory of plate tectonics states that the earth's outermost, rigid layer, the lithosphere, is fragmented into a dozen or more irregularly shaped plates that are riding atop a hotter, more mobile material, the asthenosphere.

Sohra (temporarily called Cherrapunjee or Cherrapunji) is a subdivisional town in the East Khasi Hills district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. Sohra has often been credited as being the wettest place on Earth, but for now nearby Mawsynram currently holds that distinction.

There are three kinds of plate tectonic boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform plate boundaries. A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. When two plates come together, it is known as a convergent boundary. 

 The word Epeirogenetic consists of two words viz, 'epiros' means continent and 'genesis' means origin. So eperiogenetic movement gives rise to the continent. Epeirogenetic movement causes upliftment  and subsidence of continental masses through upward and downward movements respectively. Both, the movements are vertical movement. 

The Powerful internal forces operating from within the crust are called Earth Movements which bring about vast changes on the earth's surface are called Earth Movements. They may be slow and sudden. Slow movements occurs at a very slow rate and continue much longer as compared to our life span. These movements are relative to each other, the land advancing against sea is termed as negative movement and the sea advancing on land is known as positive movement.

Mountain and continents are formed due to slow earth movement. Slow forces include both vertical and horizontal movements which are caused due to forces deep within the earth. These forces operate very slowly and their effects become discernible after thousands and million of year. 

There are seven main or “primary” tectonic plates: these are the African Plate: Antarctic Plate, Eurasian Plate, Indo-Australian Plate, North American Plate, Pacific Plate, and South American Plate.

In Sutlej valley the Himalayan pass Shipki La is located. A spur road on the Indian side rises to an altitude of 4,720 metres (15,490 ft) four km southwest of Shipki La. It is located in Kinnaur district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, and Ngari Prefecture in Tibet, China.

             Mountain passes in Himalayas             States

Vertical movements are responsible for the rise or fall of a portion of the earth surface. Vertical movements of the earth do not disturb the horizontality of the strata. Vertical movements cause uplift and subsidence.

The word Orogeny is derived from a Greek word 'Oros' meaning mountain. The orogenic movements are due to horizontal forces in earth's crust, as a result of which rock-strata are crumpled and folded. It is this movement that give rise to mountains.

Asia is separated from Europe by the Ural mountains on the west (Figure 5.1). The combined landmass of Europe and Asia is called Eurasia (Europe + Asia).