Plate tectonics, or the general study of "processes associated with the creation, movement, and destruction" of the earth's plates, is responsible for a wide array of natural disasters (pg 34). Malaysia, my country of choice to study this semester, is surrounded by a large convergent plate called the "Sunda" plate, which was long considered a part of the Eurasia plate that surrounds much of Southeast Asia. Asian countries tend to have a lot of tectonic activity, and thus a high number of natural hazards and catastrophes. According the the textbook, the plate surrounding Malaysia (on the left side) is moving around 72 mm/year towards the Southeast Asian island countries.
Vietnam, Thailand, and the surrounding South China sea also lie along the Sunda plate, and are frequented by tectonic activity as well. The Sunda plate is not a major plate, such as the Eurasian or Indo-Australian plates it feeds to. It also lies near the Philippine plate, which is consequently near the Pacific and Caroline plates.
Sources:
(Natural Hazards, 4th ed., Keller, DeVecchio)
(http://tectonicsofasia.weebly.com/sunda-plate.html, Tectonics of Asia)
Yes, that microplate is very active and has been responsible for a lot of damage in the last years.....great weebly link.
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