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The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) [note 1] is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes. It is about 40,000 km (25,000 mi) long [ 1 ] and up to about 500 km (310 mi) wide, [ 2 ] and surrounds most of the Pacific Ocean .
Earthquake epicenters 1963–98. In seismology, a seismic zone or seismic belt is an area of seismicity potentially sharing a common cause. It can be referred to as an earthquake belt as well. It may also be a region on a map for which a common areal rate of seismicity is assumed for the purpose of calculating probabilistic ground motions.
A complete earthquake cycle can be divided into interseismic, preseismic, coseismic and postseismic periods. [1] During the interseismic period, stress accumulates on a locked fault due to plate motion. [2] In the preseismic period, this stress is approaching the rupture limit, and some earthquake precursors may occur. [1]
An earthquake is what happens when the seismic energy from plates slipping past each other rattles the planet's surface. Those seismic waves are like ripples on a pond, the USGS said.
Obduction zones occurs when the continental plate is pushed under the oceanic plate, but this is unusual as the relative densities of the tectonic plates favours subduction of the oceanic plate. This causes the oceanic plate to buckle and usually results in a new mid-ocean ridge forming and turning the obduction into subduction. [citation needed]
Earthquakes occurring at a depth of less than 70 km (43 mi) are classified as "shallow-focus" earthquakes, while those with a focal depth between 70 and 300 km (43 and 186 mi) are commonly termed "mid-focus" or "intermediate-depth" earthquakes. In subduction zones, where older and colder oceanic crust descends beneath another tectonic plate ...
While earthquakes are most common along the fault lines of tectonic plates—of which there are seven major ones in the world—the seismic quakes can actually hit anywhere, at any time, according ...
This means it tends to pool in magma chambers beneath the surface and between the converging tectonic plates. Many of the famous and most well known volcanoes are of this type, including those of the Ring of Fire. As the plates move, magma underground may be forced in and out of these chambers and form intrusions into surrounding crust.