Earthquakes are relatively common throughout the west coast, especially in California. The map of California seen here gives you an idea why. Explain what is happening along the red arrows on the map. A) The Pacific plate and the North American plate are diverging Eliminate B) The sea floor is spreading where the Pacific and North American plates meet . There is a strike-slip fault between the Pacific and the North American plates. There is a convergent plate boundary between the oceanic and continental D) plates