Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’

Source-This post on Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ is based on the article “Massive earthquake hits Taiwan: What is the Ring of Fire?” published in “The Indian Express” on 4th April 2024.

Why in the News?

Recently, a massive earthquake hit Taiwan, resulting in the loss of many lives. Taiwan is prone to earthquakes because it lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where 90% of the world’s earthquakes take place.

What is Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’?

1. The Ring of Fire, also known as the Circum-Pacific Belt, is a chain of numerous volcanoes and earthquake–prone areas that stretches along the Pacific Ocean.

2. It forms a horseshoe-shaped semicircle, spanning approximately 40,250 kilometres in length.

3. The Ring of Fire marks the borders between multiple tectonic plates such as the Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Indian-Australian, Nazca, North American, and Philippine Plates.

4. It passes through 15 additional countries, including the USA, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Guatemala, Russia, Chile, Peru, and the Philippines.

Features of Ring of Fire

1. Active volcanoes:

a. Volcanoes in the Ring of Fire are caused by the movement of tectonic plates, often through a process called subduction. This occurs when two plates collide, with the heavier one being pushed beneath the other, resulting in the formation of deep trenches.
b. The Ring of Fire hosts over 450 active and inactive volcanoes, making up 75% of the Earth’s total volcanoes. These volcanoes form a semicircle or horseshoe shape around the Pacific Ocean rim.
c. The majority of active volcanoes along the Ring of Fire are located on its western side, spanning from Russia to New Zealand.

2. Earthquakes:
a. The Ring of Fire experiences frequent earthquakes because the tectonic plates continuously slide past, collide with, or move above or below each other.
b. 90% of earthquakes happen along the Ring of Fire, including some of the most powerful ones. For example- The Valdivia Earthquake in Chile in 1960, which measured 9.5 on the Richter scale, holds the record as the strongest earthquake ever recorded.

3. Trenches:
a. The Ring of Fire includes the Mariana Trench, the deepest ocean trench, which reaches a depth of 7 miles.
b. Other trenches in the area include the Philippine Trench, Challenger Trench, Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, Peru-Chile Trench, and Tonga Trench.

UPSC Syllabus- Geography in news