Terms and conditions

About these terms

These terms and conditions govern your use of platetectonicsmap.com ("Plate Tectonics Map", "the site", "we", "us"). By accessing or using the site you accept these terms and our privacy policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.

Educational use only

Everything on this site is provided for education and general interest. It is not a hazard warning, engineering, insurance or emergency service. Do not use it to make safety, building, investment, insurance or travel decisions. Live data can be delayed, incomplete or offline. For earthquake, tsunami, volcano or storm warnings, always follow official national agencies and local civil protection authorities.

Using the site

You may browse the site, use its maps and tools, and share links to any page freely. You agree not to:

• use the site in a way that breaks any law or the rights of others;
• copy large parts of the site automatically, or send so many requests that it slows the site down for other visitors;
• try to gain unauthorized access to the site, its servers or the systems it connects to, or interfere with its security;
• present our pages, maps or text as your own, or frame the site inside another website so that it appears to be part of it;
• click on advertisements dishonestly or encourage others to do so.

Reusing our maps and text

The site's text, design, illustrations, map styling and compiled data are our work and are protected by copyright. You are welcome to:

• print and share the printable maps for teaching, homework and non-commercial projects, keeping the small credit line on each map;
• use screenshots of our maps in classes, presentations, school reports and non-commercial articles, with the credit "platetectonicsmap.com";
• quote short passages of text with a link to the page they came from.

Any commercial use, such as including our maps or text in a book, paid course, app or product, needs our written permission. Please ask first; we are usually happy to help.

Third-party data

The underlying scientific data belongs to its publishers and remains under their terms: the PB2002 plate model (Peter Bird, 2003, as packaged under the Open Data Commons Attribution License), Natural Earth (public domain), NASA Blue Marble imagery, the USGS earthquake catalog and NOAA data (US public domain), the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program and GDACS. If you reuse that data directly, follow the original license. Details are on the sources and methods page.

Advertising and links to other websites

The site may show advertising served by Google AdSense and other partners, and it links to external websites such as the USGS, NOAA and the Smithsonian. We do not control and are not responsible for the content, products or privacy practices of advertisers or linked websites. An advertisement is not an endorsement.

Messages you send us

If you send us a correction, suggestion or translation fix, you allow us to use it to improve the site without payment or obligation. We will not publish your name or email address without your permission.

Accuracy and availability

We work hard to keep the site accurate and online, but data can be simplified, delayed or wrong, scientific models change, and the site or its live feeds may be unavailable at times. We may change, add or remove pages and features at any time without notice.

No warranty

The site and all its content are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage arising from your use of, or inability to use, the site or its content, including decisions made on the basis of information found here. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

Indemnity

You agree to hold us harmless from claims arising from your misuse of the site or your breach of these terms.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows the latest version. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the updated terms.

Contact

Questions about these terms are welcome through the contact page.