- Taiwan experienced its most violent earthquake in at least 25 years.
- Its earthquake sensitivity is linked to its placement within the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” which accounts for the majority of global seismic activity.
- Taiwan is predominantly influenced by the collision of the Philippine Sea Plate with the Eurasian Plate.
What is the Pacific’s ‘Ring of Fire’?
- The Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, also known as the Pacific Rim or the Circum-Pacific Belt, is an area of the Pacific Ocean characterised by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
- The so-called Ring of Fire consists of volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches that partially encircle the Pacific Basin.
- It is home to around 75% of the world’s volcanoes, totaling over 450.
- Also, around 90% of the world’s earthquakes occur here.
It spreads
- It stretches about 40,000 kilometres from New Zealand clockwise in a nearly circular arc that includes Tonga, the Kermadec Islands, and Indonesia.
- It is going north to the Philippines and Japan, then east to the Aleutian Islands, and finally south down the western coasts of North and South America.
Seismic activity in the region
- The area is situated on multiple tectonic plates, including the Pacific, Philippine, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Nazca, and North American plates.
- The movement of these plates, known as tectonic activity, causes an abundance of earthquakes and tsunamis in the area each year.
- Along much of the Ring, tectonic plates collide, forming subduction zones.
- One plate is pushed down or subducted by the other plate.
- This is a relatively sluggish process, with movement of only one or two inches per year.
- As this subduction occurs, rocks melt, produce magma, and travel to the Earth’s surface, resulting in volcanic activity.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/earthquake-taiwan-ring-of-fire-9249383/