Pacific Ring Of Fire
The Pacific Ring of Fire (or sometimes just the Ring of Fire) is an area where large numbers of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire has 452 volcanoes and is home to over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes.
About 90% of the world's earthquakes and 80% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire.
Interesting Facts about Volcanoes
*The biggest volcano in the world is Mauna Loa in Hawaii.
*Jupiter’s Moon Io is the most volcanic place in the solar system.
*There are around 1510 'active' volcanoes in the world. We currently know of 80 or more which are under the oceans.
*Stromboli, in the Mediterranean of Italy, has been known to be erupting for more than 2,000 years. It is the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean."
*Some very important volcanoes are not mountains at all. They look like deep lakes because they have had huge eruptions that make the ground sag down.
*Although some volcanoes can take thousands of years to form, others can grow overnight. For example, the cinder cone volcano Paricutin appeared in a Mexican cornfield on February 20, 1943. Within a week it was 5 stories tall, and by the end of a year it had grown to more than 336 meters tall. It ended its grown in 1952, at a height of 424 meters. By geology standards, that’s pretty quick.
