Although the Earth looks like one from the surface, deep within its structure there are layers and structures that give meaning to its evolution. For example, with an extension of 40,000 kilometers long is the Ring of Fire, a union of several oceanic plates that make this the most active area of volcanoes and earthquakes in the world.
Sliding just beneath Asia and America, the plates that make up the Ring of Fire produce seismic and volcanic activity that endangers the inhabitants of around 40 different countries.
What is the Ring of Fire and where is it located (countries)?
For the most part, earthquakes or eruptions do not occur arbitrarily. This means that they are generated in specific areas, such as tectonic plate boundaries. It is exactly an area that frequently presents volcanic and seismic activity because it concentrates the most important subduction zones on the planet.
Image: AFP
The Ring of Fire or Ring of Fire is located on the edge of the coasts of the Pacific Ocean; It starts in Chile, passes through Central America, Mexico, the United States, the Aleutian Islands and goes down to the coasts of Russia, Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan to reach .
This area is directly related to the formation of large rocks, since the tectonic chain it houses is constantly evolving. In that area alone 75% of the planet’s volcanoes are concentrated and nearly 90% of the seismic activity in the world occurs there.
If the belt activates…
For more than 50 years, the Ring of Fire has captured the attention of scientists. The different tectonic plates that create this belt or ring interact so much that volcanic and seismic phenomena are to be expected. However, human beings have had to learn to read the nature of these movements to try to prepare for their appearance.
Until now we know that small earthquakes can be produced by volcanic activity, which do not compare in magnitude with those that would be produced by the same tectonic plates. In the same way that it is known that these phenomena have existed for billions of years due to the geological processes of the Earth.
Which indicates that the Ring of Fire is already active, it is moving, it has never stopped. What changes is that sometimes we perceive it and other times we don’t. It all depends on the type of contact between the plates or the activity that occurs in the area.
Risk areas in the Ring of Fire
We know that an earthquake occurs tens of kilometers deep in the Earth. Also, it was possible to distinguish that there are three types of contact between the plates that produce a telluric movement: transcurrent, divergent and convergent.
Image: UNAM
In this sense, let us remember that tectonic plates are not light layers. Plates are huge blocks of rock, which only need a slight movement in one of their fragments to produce a major earthquake. In essence, the risk areas will depend strictly on the depth of movement, type and duration.
As for volcanoes, the following are found throughout the Ring of Fire: