What if someone were to tell you that there's a region in the world were roughly 90% of the world's earthquakes occur. What if they were to tell you that this region is also home to over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes, and all but 3 of the world's 25 largest eruptions in the last 11,700 years took place here.
Chances are, you'd think twice about buying real-estate there. But strangely enough, hundreds of millions of people live in this area, and some of the most densely-packed cities in the world have been built atop its shaky faults. We are talking about the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically and volcanically active region that stretches from one side of the Pacific to the other.
The Ring of Fire, also known as Circum Pacific Belt, is an area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean were a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. It is 40,000 km (25,000 mi) horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arches, and volcanic belts and/or plate movements. It has 452 volcanoes and is home to over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes. The pacific ring of fire is susceptible to and very much frequented by volcanism-related geological activities such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, faulting and tsunamis.
Pacific Ring of Fire may be a famous song by Johnny Cash, but to geologists, vulcanologist, and seismologists, the Ring of Fire, is a vast geographic area rich in tectonic activities. Okay, let's imagine tracing a line around the Pacific Ocean on a map or globe. If you did that, it would roughly make a ring, or circular, shape. Now imagine that ring on fire. The term is descriptive, rather than literal, but it is very imaginative. All along this ring, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are common because of tectonic plate boundaries and movements.
About 90% of the world's earthquakes and 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. The next most seismically active region (5-6% of earthquakes and 17% of the world's largest earthquakes) is the Alpide belt, which extends from Java to the northern Atlantic Ocean via the Himalayas and southern Europe. All but 3 of the world's 25 largest volcanic eruptions of the last 11,700 years occurred at volcanoes in the Ring of Fire.
The Ring of Fire is roughly situated along the edges of the Pacific Ocean, although it is really more of a Horseshoe of Fire than a Ring of Fire. It stretches for approximately 25,000 miles from New Zealand, along the west side of the Pacific through Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, along the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska, and down the west coasts of North and South America.
The top 15 countries in The Pacific Ring of Fire includes: Chile, Mexico,United States, Antarctica, Russia, Japan, Philippines, Japan, New Zealand, Papa New Guinea, Indonesia, Canada, Peru, Taiwan, and Guatemala.
Recent activities in the Pacific Ring of Fire happens in the PHILIPPINES: Bulusan volcano explodes, sending ash and steam 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) into the air and showering surrounding villages. JAPAN: Volcanologists warn of more eruptions at Mount Sakurajima, on Kyushu island southwest of Tokyo, after it spews volcanic gases. ECUADOR: Tungurahua volcano, about 80 miles (130 km) south of Quito, rains molten rock and covers villages in ash, months after it became active in May. PHILIPPINES: Authorities order 4,000 people to evacuate after Mount Mayon begins erupting on July 14.
FAMOUS RING OF FIRE ERUPTIONS are as follows:
-- August 26/27, 1883: Krakatoa, an island volcano in the Indian Ocean erupts. It kills nearly 40,000 people as tsunami waves crash into Java and Sumatra and are felt as far away as England.
-- May 18, 1980: Mount St. Helens in southwest Washington state erupts, killing 57. The eruption was triggered by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake.
-- June 9, 1991: Mount Pinatubo, 80 km (50 miles) north of Manila, erupts. It kills over 700 and destroys 200,000 buildings in one of the 20th century's 3 largest eruptions.
But, there are volcanoes by which is called "the most dangerous". Because of all the activity in the Pacific Ring of Fire it is very possible that one of those volcanoes could cause a lot of trouble for a lot of people. If Mt Rainier were to erupt for example the 2.5 million people in the area near Seattle and Tacoma would have to evacuate fast. Adding to the danger is the snowy cap of the volcano which could make the dangers much worse.
The Santa Maria Volcano in Guatemala has already shown its power with one of the most catastrophic eruptions in the 20th century taking place in 1902. Back then the volcano affected a very large part of the south west of the country; today with many more people in the area the impact of this volcano in the Pacific Ring of Fire could be much greater.
Mount Yasur in Vanuatu is what's called a stratovolcano and it has been erupting for close to a hundred years. The dangers that Mount Yasur presents are real, and yet tourists risk the dangers of toxic gases and lava flows by getting to the crater every day. This volcano has already taking a few lives from tourists and a tour guide who got too close to the danger zone.
The Pacific Ring of Fire is different today than it was thousands of years ago because of the changes caused by tectonic plates. The Pacific Plate will hit other plates nearby and that causes them to sink. The crust melts producing the magma that feeds the different volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire or it will help produce new volcanoes. The tectonic plates are also the reason for the many violent earthquakes in the entire area of the pacific.
THE TOP 10 ACTIVE VOLCANOES IN THE RIM OF FIRE
The diagram shows a remarkable fact about the surface of the Earth.
Around the rim of the Pacific Ocean are many volcanoes. The rim of the
Pacific Ocean also is the scene of much earthquake activity.
These volcanoes are most typically found in the regions where subduction is taking place.
The ring of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean is called the "Pacific Rim of Fire".
The diagram shown here also shows (in PINK) the boundaries of many of the Earth's surface plates.
1. MAYON VOLCANO, Philippines
Mayon is the archetype of a symmetrical stratovolcano and one of the world most active ones. It has frequent eruptions producing pyroclastic flows, mud flows and ash falls that repeatedly triggered large-scale evacuations. Mayon's most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1200 people and devastated several towns. The volcano rises 2462 m above the Albay Gulf and has very steep upper slopes averaging 35-40 degrees capped by a small summit crater.
2. ST. MOUNT ST. HELENS, United States
Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loo wit to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is 96 miles (154 km) south of Seattle, Washington, and 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Portland, Oregon. Mount St. Helens takes its English name from the British diplomat Lord St Helens, a friend of explorer George Vancouver who made a survey of the area in the late 18th century.[1] The volcano is located in the Cascade Range and is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire that includes over 160 active volcanoes. This volcano is well known for its ash explosions and pyroclastic flows.
3. MOUNT UNZEN, Japan
Unzen is a group of several overlapping active stratovolcanoes
(including Kinugasa on the north, Fugen-dake at the east-center, and
Kusenbu on the south) located near the city of Shimabara, Nagasaki
Prefecture, on the island of Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island.
The massive basaltic to andesitic Unzen volcanic complex occupies much
of the Shimabara Peninsula east of Nagasaki. Currently, Unzen's highest
peaks are Fugendake (普賢岳) at 1,359 metres (4,459 ft) and Heisei Shinzan
(平成新山) at 1,486 metres (4,875 ft).
The volcanoes formed along a 30-40 km long E-W aligned graben. The
historically active vent of Unzen, Mayu-yama lava dome complex, is about
4,000 years old.4. MOUNT FUJI, Japan
5. MOUNT TAAL, Philippines
Taal Volcano is a complex volcano located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.[1] It is the second most active volcano in the Philippines with 33 historical eruptions. All of these eruptions are concentrated on Volcano Island, an island near the middle of Taal Lake. The lake partially fills Taal Caldera, which was formed by prehistoric eruptions between 140,000 and 5,380 BP.[2] Viewed from Tagaytay Ridge, Taal Volcano and Lake presents one of the most picturesque and attractive views in the Philippines.[3] It is located about 50 km (31 mi) south of the capital of the country, the city of Manila.
The volcano had several violent eruptions in the past causing loss of
life in the island and the populated areas surrounding the lake, with
the death toll estimated at around 5,000 to 6,000. Because of its
proximity to populated areas and its eruptive history, the volcano was
designated a Decade Volcano, worthy of close study to prevent future natural disasters. All volcanoes of the Philippines are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.6. MOUNT NEVADO DEL RUIZ, Columbia
The Nevado del Ruiz (Spanish pronunciation: [neβaðo ðel ˈrwis]), also known as La Mesa de Herveo[4] (English: Mesa of Herveo (the nearby town)), or Kumanday in the language of the local pre-Columbian indigenous people,[5] is a volcano located on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima in Colombia, about 129 kilometers (80 mi) west of the capital city Bogotá. It is a stratovolcano, composed of many layers of lava alternating with hardened volcanic ash and other pyroclastic rocks. Nevado del Ruiz has been active for about two million years, since the early Pleistocene or late Pliocene epoch,
with three major eruptive periods. The current volcanic cone formed
during the present eruptive period, which began 150 thousand years ago.
7. MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia
Smoke can be seen emerging from the mountaintop at least 300 days a year, and several eruptions have caused fatalities. Pyroclastic flow from a large explosion killed 27 people on 22 November 1994, mostly in the town of Muntilan, west of the volcano.[2] Another large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before the Yogyakarta earthquake. In light of the hazards that Merapi poses to populated areas, it has been designated as one of the Decade Volcanoes.
8. MOUNT OLYMPUS, USA
Mount Olympus in the U.S. state of Utah is one of the most prominent and recognizable mountains viewable from practically every location in the Salt Lake Valley. Mount Olympus is not the tallest peak along the Wasatch Front,
but its unusual form and location make it a popular hiking destination
for locals. The mountain is situated immediately east of the center of
the Salt Lake Valley (due east from Murray and Taylorsville).
Distinctive features of the mountain are its twin peaks and other
outcroppings, the highest of which is called "Summit Peak" and which
towers above the valley to an elevation of 9,026 feet (2,751 m). Thus,
the peak looms about 4,800 feet (1,463 m) above the valley floor.
9. MOUNT ULAWUN, US
Ulawun is a basaltic and andesitic stratovolcano situated on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, about 130 km southwest of Rabaul. It is the highest mountain in the Bismarck Archipelago
at 2,334 metres (7,657 ft), and one of the most active volcanoes in
Papua New Guinea. The first recorded eruption of Ulawun was by William Dampier in 1700; there have been 22 recorded eruptions since the 18th century. Several thousand people live near the volcano.
10. MOUNT IRAZU, Costa, Rica
The name could come from either the combination of "ara" (point) and "tzu" (thunder)[clarification needed] or a corruption of Iztarú, which was the name of an indigenous village on the flanks of the volcano. In Costa Rica it is knowThe volcano's summit has several craters, one of which contains Diego de la Haya, a green crater lake of variable depth. At 11,260 feet (3,432 m), the Irazú Volcano is the highest active volcano in Costa Rica.[2] It is easily visited from San José, with a road leading right up to the summit craters and a weekly bus service to the top. It is thus a popular tourist spot. The volcano summit also spots a few television transmitters for television stations in San José.n by the name of "El Coloso" (The Colossus) due to the catastrophes that it has provoked in the past.
SOURCES:
WIKIPEDIA, YOUTUBE
No comments:
Post a Comment