Untold facts about the Ring of Fire

The Pacific Ring of Fire we are talking about is the most intense volcanic region. Haven't you heard of it? Well, you should definitely know about it, so get to know one of the greatest wonders of the world.

• 1. Two-thirds of the world's volcanoes are located in the Ring of Fire

  The last 11,700 years of the Ring of Fire have been intense. We are calculating from this time point, since this is the duration of the Holocene epoch, the modern geological period.

  During this time, about 850-1000 volcanoes were active along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

  In the Holocene epoch, 4 largest volcanic eruptions occurred here, and more than 350 largest eruptions were recorded in the history of mankind.

• 2. 90% of the world's earthquakes happened in this zone

  And these are no minor earthquakes: the Pacific Ring of Fire is home to 81% of the largest earthquakes in the world.

  For comparison: in the next largest seismic activity region - the Alpine-Himalayan folded belt (Alpide Belt) - only 5-6% of earthquakes in the world occur.

• 3. There is no consensus about the boundaries of the Ring of Fire

  This is largely due to how seismic and volcanic activity is created.

  We are talking about the western part of Indonesia, which is also located in the Alpine-Himalayan belt, the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands.

  Activity in areas of greater doubt is occurring for reasons different from the rest of the Ring of Fire.

• 4. The Ring of Fire is about 25,000 miles (40,234 km) long.

  The Pacific volcanic ring of fire covers a breathtakingly vast area of ​​the Earth. It practically encircles the Pacific Ocean, and only the border of the South Pacific Ocean is not subject to seismic and volcanic activity.

  This makes Ring of Fire look like a horseshoe, but "Fire Horseshoe" doesn't sound very good, so you can see why that name was chosen.

  The ring of fire starts around New Zealand and stretches along the coastline from the Bering Strait, and then continues along the coast of North and South America to Chilean Patagonia.

• 5. There are more than 15 countries within the Ring of Fire

  The Ring of Fire does not just stretch north from New Zealand, but follows the landmasses that cover Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines.

  From there it reaches Japan, after which it stretches to the northeast of russia and then moves along Alaska, where the first half of the ring ends.

  This incredible zone of activity then continues along the west coast of the Americas, affecting all countries along the coastline, before reaching the southernmost tip of Chile.

  In all these countries there are many volcanoes, and there are many earthquakes - this is the Ring of Fire.

• 6. It is relatively safe inside the Ring of Fire

  The fact is that the Pacific volcanic ring of fire is truly active only along the borders of the ring itself.

  The further you move away from the land along the perimeter of the ring to its center, the calmer the situation becomes - at least until you get to Hawaii.

  Unfortunately for would-be settlers who want to live away from the Ring of Fire, this is not possible, as the whole area is almost entirely occupied by the Pacific Ocean.

• 7. The Ring of Fire is located just on the border of the Pacific plate

  Get ready to brush up on your geography knowledge, because without it we won't be able to explain this crazy phenomenon.

  Simply put, the rocky surface of the planet is made up of many large plates, which we call tectonic plates, and which are in constant motion.

  They sit more or less on top of the Earth's molten core, and when a gap forms between the plates, magma is created.

  It is along the boundaries of these plates that we observe the greatest seismic and volcanic activity due to ongoing processes. The Ring of Fire is just the boundary of the Pacific Plate.

• 8. Volcanoes in the Ring of Fire are not connected to each other

  There is a common misconception that activity along the Ring of Fire is somehow interconnected and that when one volcano erupts, another one erupts as well.

  And although this can certainly happen, it is not connected to any coherent system - this is pure coincidence.

  This is all that the Ring of Fire is - a random chain of extremely variable tectonic lines.

• 9. The Pacific Ring of Fire is home to the world's deepest ocean trench

  The meeting of tectonic plates causes not only seismic and volcanic activity.

  There are three main ways in which tectonic plates interact: they can move away from each other, rub against each other, or one plate can be under another.

  The Mariana Trench is located where the Philippine Plate meets the Pacific Plate, with the latter being crushed by the former.

  This occurs in the deepest part of the ocean floor, which makes this trench the deepest.

  The lowest known point of the trench is at an incredible depth of 10,944 meters below sea level.