The Arabian geological plate, the land mass that is now Saudi Arabia and Yemen, is struggling to break free and drift north of the fixed Nubia and Somalia plates, which also hold Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti, scientists say. The tectonic battle has raged for 30 milion years, according to Isabelle Manighetti, a researcher in active tectonics at the paris-based Institute dePhysique de Globe. "Ther is no equivalent anywhere else on earth," said Manighetti, the institute's co-coordinator of the Horn of Africa study project.