Central America tectonic plates, diagram. The two main tectonic plates shown here are the Coscos plate (centre left) and the Caribbean plate (centre to centre right). These relatively small tectonic plates are surrounded by much larger ones: the North American plate (top), the South American plate (lower right), the Nazca plate (lower left), and the Pacific plate (far left). The yellow arrows show the movement of the plates, the black lines and red arrows show relative movement at plate boundaries, and the red lines show subduction zones where one plate is descending below another. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes can arise at these plate boundaries.