The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 2 plus 4 letter word JUAN DE FUCA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
J
U
A
N
D
E
F
U
C
A
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "With a plate he can certainly make the earth move" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case with a plate he can certainly make the earth move = juan de fuca.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.