Using maps and graphics, Smithsonian geologist Dr. Liz Cottrell provides an overview of the major earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011—one of the largest ever recorded globally. She explains the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the movement of tectonic plates and subduction, the...

Smithsonian geologist Liz Cottrell of the National Museum of Natural History shows us the tools she uses to learn more about what's buried beneath the Earth's crust.