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A 'Wadati-Benioff zone' (also 'Benioff-Wadati zone' or 'Benioff zone') is a deep active seismic area in a subduction zone. Differential motion along the zone produces deep seated earthquakes, the foci of which may be as deep as about 700 km (435 miles). They develop beneath volcanic island arcs and continental margins above active subduction zones. The deep earthquakes along the zone allow seismologists to map the three dimensional surface of a subducting slab of oceanic crust and mantle.
The term was named for the two seismologists, Hugo Benioff of the California Institute of Technology, and Kiyoo Wadati of the Central Meteorological Observatory of Japan who independently discovered the zones.

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See also

★ Subduction