What is the Ring of Fire?
The Ring of Fire is a horseshoe-shaped zone around the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. It has about 75 percent of the world's active volcanoes.
The Ring of Fire stretches about 40,000 kilometers, from New Zealand up through Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, across to Alaska and down the western coasts of North and South America to Chile. It follows the edges of several tectonic plates that meet beneath the Pacific Ocean.
Along much of the ring, one plate slides beneath another in a process called subduction. As the sinking plate melts, magma rises to form volcanoes. The plates also grind and lock together, building up stress that is released as earthquakes. About 90 percent of the world's earthquakes happen along the Ring of Fire.
Famous events
The largest earthquake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5, struck Chile in 1960. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in the United States also occurred along the ring. Countries in the region invest heavily in earthquake-resistant buildings and warning systems.
Did You Know?
Indonesia has more active volcanoes than any other country, with around 120, most of them part of the Ring of Fire.