About five centuries ago, Ferdinand Magellan was amazed at how calm the waters were in the largest ocean on Earth. That’s why he named this sea ‘Peaceful’ or Pacific. However, despite its calm waters, underneath the waters is a ring of fire. What is the Pacific Ring of Fire?
Many people may be familiar with this term because they live in countries along the Pacific. However, some of them do not truly understand what it is. You can read the following explanation to understand more about it.
What is the Pacific Ring of Fire?
People call the Pacific Ring of Fire with different terms, such as the Circum-Pacific belt and the Ring of Fire. The Pacific Ring of Fire is a seismically active tectonic belt. The belt consists of several tectonic plates with the Pacific Plate as the largest.
Moreover, the Nazca Plate, Cocos Plate, and Philippine Plate are the smaller ones. This tectonic belt also borders other tectonic plates, e.g., the Eurasian Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate.
All those plates crash into each other or draw apart from each other. These movements can several geological phenomena and disasters.
Why is it called Pacific Ring of Fire? Experts named it this way because the tectonic belt almost makes a full circle surrounding the Pacific. In reality, the tectonic belt creates a horseshoe-like zone stretching around 40,000 km, from Tonga to South America.
What is Found in the Pacific Ring of Fire?
As a seismic zone, the Ring of Fire covers a large area of land and water. This area has several landscape features that make it distinctive from other areas. Geologically, this seismic zone has three features.
Volcanoes
A string of over 350 volcanoes lies along this tectonic belt. Some of them are above sea level (subaerial), while others are subaerial volcanoes and submarine seamounts.
Moreover, most of these volcanoes are active. However, others are dormant and waiting for the right seismic trigger to explode.
Earthquake Phenomenon
About 90% of all earthquakes shaking the earth occurred along this belt. Sometimes they are powerful, but other times they are not. In some cases, those earthquakes caused tsunamis that swept coastline areas and caused more damage to people living in those areas.
Trenches
The tectonic plate movement in the Pacific Ring of Fire also generates the deepest trenches on Earth. Some trenches in the Pacific are Mariana, Middle America, Peru-Chile, Japan, and Aleutian trenches.
What Happens at the Pacific Ring of Fire?
Those living along the Pacific Ring of Fire are exceptionally familiar with tectonic phenomena. Below are destructive eruptions and quakes ever occurred in the Pacific Ring of Fire
Volcanic Eruptions
Many people are living near active volcanoes in the Pacific belt. Those people live in those areas because they are excellent for farming. Therefore, they often witness volcanic eruptions. Some are only small explosions, but others are destructive.
One of the devastating eruptions was Mount Krakatoa (Indonesia) eruption in 1883. This eruption sent volcanic materials as high as 80 km into the sky. This eruption also caused a giant tsunami, climate change, and atmospheric shock waves.
Moreover, records said people in Perth could hear the explosion. The latest destructive eruption was Mount Pinatubo (the Philippines) in 1991. The eruption caused global cooling for several years, ocean changes, and ozone layer depletion.
Earthquakes
Those living in the Ring of Fire also frequently witness quakes. In some countries within the Ring of Fire, small earthquakes occur almost every day.
Earthquakes are unpredictable. Unlike volcanic eruptions, quakes never show any signs before happening. Therefore, they may cause a higher death toll than volcanic eruptions. Over the last century, many powerful earthquakes of more than 8 magnitude occurred in the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Tohoku Earthquake (Japan) in 2011: This megathrust earthquake had a magnitude of 9. The quake also caused a giant tsunami, killed many people, and destroyed a nuclear power plant.
Alaska Earthquake (USA) in 1964: Records said this 9.2 magnitude earthquake lasted for almost 3 minutes. This disaster caused great destruction in Anchorage and other areas. It also changed the contour of the land in the affected areas.
Valdivia Earthquake (Chile) 1960: Four years before the Alaska earthquake, there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.4 in Valdivia followed by a tsunami. This earthquake killed around 6,000 people.
What is the Pacific Ring of Fire? It is a tectonic belt stretching for thousands of kilometers on the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The belt consists of several tectonic plates that move in different ways, generating many volcanoes and trenches. The area also frequently suffers from earthquakes and tsunamis.
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