Hello, steemians, today I would like to talk to you about something that caught my attention and even though it is not within my area of maximum expertise I would like to share, it is the pacific ring of fire, an area where hundreds of highly geological phenomena happen.

And is that earlier this year there were earthquakes in Alaska, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, Guam, Taiwan and a volcano in the Philippines erupted, all these phenomena besides being terrestrial phenomena have in common that were recorded in countries that are near the so-called Pacific ring of fire, site where the higher seismic and volcanic activity of the entire planet is concentrated.

Pacific ring of fire.

The Pacific Ring of Fire, is the horseshoe-shaped area that is located in the Pacific Ocean and extends from South America and North America to East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Source
Public Domain
Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

There 75% of the inactive and active volcanoes of the Earth are grouped, where 90% of all the earthquakes of the world are born and 80% of the largest earthquakes, so the Pacific Ring of Fire cause the higher seismic and volcanic activity that spreads along 40,000 kilometers.

Higher seismic activity of the planet.

In the center of the Pacific Ocean is where the tectonic plates that are in constant friction arise, which causes tension to accumulate. When that tension is unleashed, it causes one to move under the other, producing earthquakes felt by the countries that are located on the edge of the continents.

Source
CC BY 4.0

The tectonic plates of the Pacific are the Eurasian; the one in the Philippines; the Indo-Australian; the North American; that of Cocos; the Caribbean one; that of Nazca; the South American; the Antarctic and the Pacific.

Source
Public Domain
Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

Volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

The Pacific Ring of Fire has a total of 452 volcanoes. Some of the most active volcanoes in the world are there. Kilauea is considered the most active volcano in the world and is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Source
Public Domain
Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

Other volcanoes such as Mount Fuji in Japan, Mt. Santa Elena and the Mount. Rainier in western North America, Krakatoa in Indonesia, Mauna Loa in Hawaii, Galeras in Colombia and Sangay in Ecuador. These are all well-known volcanoes and some that could be dangerous for the nearby population.

As a consequence of all the seismic activity in the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is very likely that one of these volcanoes will cause many problems. For example, if Mount Rainier erupts, the 2.5 million people in the Seattle and Tacoma area would have to be evacuated immediately. Not to mention that the danger of the eruption should be added to the snow cover of the volcano, which would considerably increase the danger.

Source
CC BY-SA 2.0

Another of the most dangerous volcanoes is El Monte Yasur in Vanuatu, which is basically what is known as a stratovolcano and has been erupting for almost a hundred years. The dangers that Mount Yasur represents are real, a product of toxic gases and lava flows.

Source
CC BY-SA 3.0

Countries that are within the Pacific Ring of Fire.

It includes the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Then it doubles to the height of the Aleutian Islands, in the north of the Pacific Ocean, between Alaska and the Kamchatka Peninsula and then drops to include the coast and the islands of Russia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor , Brunei, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu and New Zealand.

Risks.

Nearly 90 percent of the earthquakes recorded around the world take place in the Ring of Fire. This includes the risk of volcanic eruptions. People should not only worry about active volcanoes, as inactive ones also pose a threat. An example of this is without a doubt, El Monte Santa Elena which was a volcano that was inactive before its eruption in 1980, and caused several deaths and more than one billion dollars in damages.

Earthquakes.

There is no doubt that all the seismic phenomena caused by the friction of tectonic plates that occur in the ring of fire of the Pacific make this area very prone to harbor large earthquakes, however it should be noted that thanks to new technologies developed by experts for The detection of earthquakes before they occur make the risks that this may pose are a bit depleted.

References.

• http://www.basicplanet.com/pacific-ring-fire/
• https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/ring-fire/
• https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/1/24/16924312/earthquake-volcano-mayon-philippines-japan
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Fire
• http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/hazards/earthquakes/whyWhere.html
• http://www.sms-tsunami-warning.com/pages/tectonic-plates#.WpmiXWpubIU
• http://earthsky.org/earth/what-is-the-ring-of-fire

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Disclaimer:
[1] All the content exposed in this post is a compilation of different sources besides my knowledge in the subject.
[2] All the images used are correctly labeled for reuse.