Scientists find thousands of earthquakes in a perfectly straight line in Alaska, revealing a hidden 'microplate'

Thousands of previously undetected tiny earthquakes have revealed the edge of a miniature tectonic plate slamming into Alaska near the Denali Fault.

The microplate could be focusing seismic energy in a straight line in a region under the Alaska Range of mountains, potentially contributing to large earthquakes and the development of small volcanoes in the area.

The Yakutat microplate is an ocean plateau that is thicker than the Pacific oceanic crust surrounding it. Formed by volcanoes tens of millions of years ago, this block of crust is now being pushed under the North American Plate in Alaska in a process called subduction. But because it is thicker and more buoyant than the surrounding oceanic crust, the microplate pushes up the Alaska Range, which includes North America's highest mountain, Mount McKinley (also known as Denali).

"Being able to identify where the ...