The Dynamic Earth

This is a good booklet put together by the USGS (United States Geological Survey for my British readers) discussing plate tectonics and why things happen where they happen. It explains things better than I ever could and the figures will help you visualize the geological processes occurring. You don't have to buy the uniformitarianistic bias of the booklet. The processes are the only important thing. The processes are proven. We can measure the creeping of the plates using GPS, of all things.

To answer Elle's questions, I give you this. I guess they are uncertain about how much this earthquake will affect the rotation of the Earth.

Edited to correct stupid spelling error