Pacific Ring of Fire
The Circle of Fire or Pacific Ring of Fire represents an area located in the North of the Pacific Ocean with about 40 thousand km of extension that goes from the Cordillera of the Andes to the Philippines.
It is considered the area of the planet where the most seismic and volcanism activities occur, which brings together about 80% of the world’s volcanoes.
There, the largest number of earthquakes that have ever occurred on the planet has been recorded and receives its name due to the presence of numerous volcanoes. Of the countries that form part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan is one of the most affected.
This happens because the place, in the shape of a horseshoe, is located between several tectonic plates that move and generate intense geological activity: the Pacific Plate (the largest in the world), the Philippines, the Eurasian, the Indiana, the Nazca and the North American tectonic plate.
Thus, their movement causes various phenomena such as earthquakes, seaquakes (tsunamis), volcanoes, which, in most cases, are catastrophic.
countries
The Pacific Ring of Fire covers the coast of the American continent, Antarctica, Oceania and Asia. Thus, the countries that are part are:
- Alaska
- Canada
- U.S
- Siberia
- Russia
- Japan
- Indonesia
- thailand
- Philippines
- Malaysia
- New Zealand
- Mexico
- Panama
- Colombia
- Chile
- East Timor
- Papua New Guinea
- Solomon Islands
- vanuatu
- Tonga
Atlantic Ring of Fire
In addition to the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Atlantic Ring of Fire gathers about 20% of the volcanic activity that occurs on the planet. It covers countries in Central America, the Antilles, the Azores, Cape Verde, the Mediterranean and the Caucasus region.
Film
The futuristic feature film titled “Pacific Rim” (2013) is an action film directed by filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. It reports the battle between humans and the giant monsters “Kaijus” that rise from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, in the year 2020.
Ring of Fire volcanic activity
You may have noticed that the distribution of volcanoes on Earth is uneven. The opposite. They are part of a larger area of geological activity. If there were no such activity, the volcano would not exist. Earthquakes are caused by the accumulation and release of energy between plates. These earthquakes are most common in our Pacific Ring of Fire countries.
And that’s it Ring of Fire is the one that concentrates 75% of the active volcanoes of the entire planet. 90% of earthquakes also occur. There are numerous islands and archipelagos together, as well as different volcanoes, with violent eruptions. Volcanic arcs are also very common. They are chains of volcanoes located on top of subduction plates.
This fact leaves many people around the world fascinated and terrified by this fire zone. This is because the power of their actions is enormous and can cause real natural disasters.
Volcanoes and Earthquakes along the Pacific Ring of Fire
It is responsible for causing 90% of earthquakes on the planet, while 50% of volcanoes are related to this region. This is because this is the area where tectonic plates meet the most.
In this way, they are responsible for forming the Earth’s mantle and end up floating continuously on layers of solid or partially melted rocks . When they collide or break up, tremors and elevations occur in that location.
The curious thing is that most of the mountains that permeate the Pacific Ring of Fire originate precisely in these meeting regions. The Andes Mountains in South America and the Rocky Mountains in North America arose in this way.
