A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the waters near Taiwan on the morning of Wednesday, April 3 (local date), leading to Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines to issue security alerts.
And with the latest seismic activity the question arose again about the so-called Fire beltalso know as Ring of Firewhich is a tectonic chain which surrounds the Pacific Ocean.
What is the ring of fire and why is it called that?
The area is made up of a length of 40 thousand kilometers and, according to experts, the 90 percent of the seismic activity recorded worldwidein addition to possessing the 75% of the active volcanoes on the planet.
Its main characteristic is being a subduction zone, that is, its tectonic plates sink beneath each other, generating seismic movements. Furthermore, in these areas earthquakes can reach a depth of up to 670 kilometers deep.
The ring of fire or belt of fire is delimited by several main plates, such as: pacific plateSouth American plate, Nazca plate, North American platePhilippine plate and Australian plate.
It is called the Ring of Fire because it is shaped like a horseshoe. In addition, most of the area in which it is located is made up of active volcanoes, which spew lava. That is why it is called “Belt or ring of fire”.
How does the Ring of Fire affect Mexican territory?
Because The entire Mexican Pacific coast borders the Ring of Fire.Mexico is located within an area in which the most earthquakes are recorded worldwide.
Furthermore, Mexico has different important volcanoes such as Popocatépetl and Colimawhich due to the constant movements they have recently suffered generate minor eruptions, emitting columns that reach up to 15 km high.
In an article published by UNAM Gazetteit is explained that the ring of fire is also associated with the formation of large mountains. On the other hand, the Mexican volcanoes are related to the Cocos plate and the Rivera platein such a way that they demarcate below the North American plate.
What countries are in the ring of fire?
- Mexico
- USA
- Canada
- Panama
- Costa Rica
- Nicaragua
- The Savior
- Honduras
- Guatemala
- Belice
- Chile
- Argentina
- Peru
- Bolivia
- Ecuador
- Colombia
- Russia
- Japan
- Filipinas
- Taiwan
- Indonesia
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Solomon Islands
- Tuvalu
- Samoa
- New Zealand
What happens if the Ring or Belt of Fire is activated?
According to various investigations, if the ring of fire is ringed, earthquakes would occur in all the countries that are on the list mentioned above. To this is added the volcano eruption that are part of this.
Volcanoes that are surrounded by towns or cities, would end up affecting life (human, wild and nature) of the place when it erupts. Earthquakes also have a devastating effectsince it leaves thousands of victims and lifeless people. With the growth of the population that exists on the two continents involved, the number of deaths would increase.
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2024-04-15 01:30:34