Since the end of January 2018, the so-called "Ring of Fire" has been hit by a series of earthquakes, including those affecting Alaska, Texas, California and Nebraska, as well as the Philippines in recent days. Experts fear that Ring of Fire is on the rise.
The Ring of Fire is composed of over 450 active and dormant volcanoes forming a long chain that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. The chain runs along the western coast of South and North America, crosses the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, descends to the east coast of Asia and past New Zealand, and even touches the northern coast of Antarctica. 75% of all volcanoes are collected in these places. The most famous and dangerous volcanoes in the chain are Fuji in Japan, Pinatubo in the Philippines, and St. Helens in the USA.
The increasing danger of the "Ring of Fire" was written at the end of 2017, after Mexico was hit by the most powerful earthquake in the past 100 years in September. Also in 2017, earthquakes occurred in New Zealand (magnitude 6.1), Japan (6.1), Vanuatu (6.4), Indonesia (5.7), Mexico (7.1), Taiwan (5.3), Papua New Guinea (5.2) and Tonga (5.0). Scientists then said that the Pacific Ocean is experiencing "unusual" seismic activity.
The US West Coast fears further destruction. Scientists have long been talking about a similar scenario for California, which could be hit by an 8.2 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale. Such a powerful earthquake in Southern California is especially frightening, as it will definitely touch the San Andreas Fault. The fault goes about 16 kilometers deep, and if an earthquake of this magnitude affects it, it could lead to a disaster with unpredictable consequences.
On April 9, 2018, an earthquake struck in Perry, Oklahoma. It was not very strong (4.3 points), nevertheless, residents were told to keep first aid kits with them. Since April 6, this is the 13th earthquake in Oklahoma, but they were also mild.
On April 10, there were three earthquakes in California, as well as in Nebraska, Alaska and Texas. Southern California last Thursday hit the Channel Islands with a magnitude 5.3 quake, the worst in the area in several years.
On the evening of April 9, an earthquake struck the Santa Cruz Island area, 145 km from Los Angeles. “Our region hasn't shaken like this since 2014,” the Los Angeles Police Department tweeted.
In February 2018, earthquakes hit Japan, Guam and Taiwan. In Taiwan, the February 6 earthquake killed 17 people and injured more than 180. Since February 11, three earthquakes have struck Japan. Their power was 4.5 and 4.8 points. In Guam, the earthquakes were slightly more powerful (5.6 points on average).
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After analyzing the data on earthquakes in recent months, some experts have suggested that many mild, but frequent aftershocks may be a prelude to a very powerful and destructive earthquake in the near future.
Other experts consider these earthquakes to be quite common for the Ring of Fire and do not see any more activity in these regions than in previous years.
