What Is the Ring of Fire?

The Ring of Fire is a

horseshoe-shaped line on a
map which is home to
around 75% of the world’s
volcanoes and 90% of the
world’s earthquakes.

The area is a 25 000 mile

line of volcanoes, tremors
and earthquakes around the
edge of the Pacific Ocean.
 Why Do Earthquakes Happen?
Earth’s crust is made up of lots of pieces. The edges of these pieces rub against
each other and this can cause sudden movements which can lead to earth
tremors or earthquakes.

These pieces of
Earth’s crust are
called tectonic plates
and they make a
jigsaw covering
Earth.
Where Do Earthquakes Happen?
Here is a map showing earthquake hotspots around the world.

What do you notice about the locations of the hotspots?

 What Makes the Ring of Fire so Special?

One way that tectonic plates meet

and move is when one slides under
the other creating what is known as a
subduction zone.

The boundary of the Ring of Fire is mostly subduction zones which are more likely
to cause earthquakes.
The subduction also leaves behind trenches. Trenches are the very deepest parts of
the oceans.
 The Mariana Trench
The Mariana Trench is the deepest
known trench in Earth’s oceans. It was
formed when one tectonic plate moved
beneath its neighbour.

It is 7 miles deep and is found just to

the east of the island of Guam.

Challenger Deep is the deepest part and

also the deepest known part of our
oceans. It is 10 898m which is bigger
than the height of Mount Everest which
is only a tiny 8848m!
 Hotspots on the Ring of Fire
There are at least 452 volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. Here are some of the more
famous or important hotspots… click on each to find out more.

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 Things to Do Next…

• Find out more about the Richter scale.

• Find out more about the discovery of Challenger Deep.

• Find out more about how earthquakes are predicted.

• Find out the difference between a tremor and an earthquake.