Book 12, Question 42
Why Is the “Ring of Fire” So Quake-Y?
The Ring of Fire is so quake prone because it forms where the Pacific Plate meets many surrounding plates.
The Ring of Fire is a horseshoe-shaped belt around the Pacific Ocean. Many plates meet there, so it has lots of earthquakes and volcanoes. About 90 percent of the world's earthquakes happen along it!
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Quick answers
How many earthquakes happen there?
About 90 percent of the world's earthquakes happen along it.
Sources: National Geographic, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey
More fun facts
- The Ring of Fire is a chain of volcanoes and quake zones about 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) long around the Pacific Ocean.
- It is home to about 75 percent of the world's volcanoes.
- About 90 percent of the world's earthquakes happen along it.
- It forms where the Pacific Plate meets many surrounding plates.
- Deep ocean trenches and curved chains of volcanoes partly circle the Pacific Basin.
- The Cascade volcanoes and Alaska's volcanoes are part of it.
Sources: National Geographic, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey
Questions kids ask
Is the Ring of Fire really on fire?
No. It is a ring of volcanoes and earthquake zones around the Pacific.