Context: Nine people died, and more than 800 were injured in Taiwan (lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”), after the island was struck by its most significant earthquake (7.2 magnitude) in at least 25 years on the morning of April 4th.
About Taiwan earthquake:
- Taiwan is prone to earthquakes as it lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where 90% of the world’s earthquakes take place.
- Taiwan experiences earthquakes due to the interactions of two tectonic plates the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate.
About Pacific Ring of Fire
- It is also known as Ring of Fire, Circum-Pacific Belt, or Girdle of Fire.
- It is known as the “Ring of Fire” because of the loop of volcanoes that lies around the Pacific. Around 75 percent of the world's volcanoes are in this area, with a large number of them lying under water.
- It is an underwater region on the edges of the Pacific Ocean where numerous earthquakes and volcanic eruptions take place.
- It is a U-shaped or semicircle or horse shoe in shape belt of approximately 40,250 kilometers long and 500 kilometers wide, with a chain of over active 450 volcanoes.
- Indonesia, New Zealand, Papa New Guinea, Philippines, Japan, United States, Chile, Canada, Guatemala, Russia, Peru, Solomon Islands, Mexico and Antarctica are some countries are some of the important places located in the ring of the fire.
Reason for vulnerability of the Ring of Fire to earthquakes and volcanoes:
- The Ring of Fire traces the meeting points of numerous tectonic plates, including the Eurasian, North American, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Caribbean, Nazca, Antarctic, Indian, Australian, Philippine, and other smaller plates, which all encircle the large Pacific Plate.
- The frequent earthquakes and abundant volcanoes along the Ring of Fire result from plate tectonic movement in the region. These tectonic plates end up overlapping at convergent boundaries, referred to as subduction zones.
Earthquakes:
- It witnesses so many earthquakes due to constant sliding past, colliding into, or moving above or below each other of the tectonic plates.
- As the edges of these plates are quite rough, they get stuck with one another while the rest of the plate keeps moving.
- An earthquake occurs when the plate has moved far enough and the edges unstick on one of the faults.
Volcanoes:
- The existence of volcanoes in the Ring of Fire is also due to the movement of tectonic plates. Many of the volcanoes have been formed through a process known as subduction. It takes place when two plates collide with each other and the heavier plate is shoved under another, creating a deep trench, like the Mariana Trench, the world’s deepest spot.
- Basically, when a ‘down going’ oceanic plate (like the Pacific Plate) is shoved into a hotter mantle plate, it heats up, volatile elements mix, and this produces the magma. The magma then rises up through the overlying plate and spurts out at the surface, which leads to the formation of volcanoes.
- Most of the subduction zones on the planet are located in the Ring of Fire and that’s why it hosts a large number of volcanoes.
- The volcanoes in Indonesia are among the most active of the Pacific Ring of Fire. They are formed due to subduction zones of three main active tectonic plates, namely the Eurasian Plate, Pacific Plate, and Indo-Australian Plate.