How do tectonic plates move

The Earth's surface is made up of a series of large plates (like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle).
These plates are in constant motion travelling at a few centimetres per year.
The ocean floors are continually moving, spreading from the centre and sinking at the edges.
Hot water currents beneath the plates move them in different directions.
The source of heat driving the convection currents is radioactive charge which is happening deep in the Earth.

Plates are created by continental crust separating and creating a diverging plate boundary. When a divergence occurs within a continent it is called rifting. A quiet alot of hot magma rises from deep within the mantle pushing up the crust and causing pressure and making the continent to break and separate. Lava flows and earthquakes would be seen.