The “Ring of Fire,” which is a horseshoe shape geological disaster area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean, is now on alert as volcanic eruptions struck Philippines and Japan. Meanwhile, Alaska and Indonesia were hit by strong earthquakes.
According to United States Geological Survey, over half of the world’s active volcanoes located above the ground are situated in this ring, which comprises of about 452 volcanoes. This ring is linked with series of volcanic arcs, oceanic trenches, volcanic belts and plate movements. It is also known as the circum-Pacific belt.
In this ring faulty system, the earthquakes occur when the plates subside beneath each other. Once this happened, the sea could generate tsunamis, according to Fox News.
The massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit off the coast of Alaska on Tuesday had caused tsunami alerts across the U.S. West Coast and some parts of Mexico. Indonesia was also struck by a 5.3 magnitude quake. There were damages reported including about 130 buildings and a number of people injured. Another earthquake with a 3.7 magnitude also hit off the coast of Honokaa in Hawaii just after the quake in Kodiak Island in Alaska.
In the Philippines, more than 50 thousands of people evacuated the surrounding areas of Mayon Volcano that erupted fiercely and spewed lava and ashes. Mayon Volcano is known for its perfect cone and considered the most active volcano in the Philippines. It erupted three times on Tuesday and now on alert level four on the scale of five.
Volcano erupts in the Philippines and Japan, major earthquake off the coast off Alaska and minor earthquakes off the west coast the past couple months ???? The ring of fire is angry pic.twitter.com/ed1U6xCe8M
— Sean Tudisco (@seant1128) January 23, 2018
Quintin Velardo, a resident near the Mayon Volcano, compared the eruption to an airplane that is about to land. He and his family could not sleep because of its loud rumblings. He also took his family to a nearby evacuation center for safety on Tuesday.
Mount Kusatsu-Shirane in Japan also suddenly erupted on Tuesday and triggered the avalanche. It is reported that twelve people mostly soldiers were injured while skiing on the slopes of a volcano. Among the eight soldiers, one had died from his injuries, according to Express.
The tsunami watches in some parts of the United States including California, Oregon, Washington State and Hawaii were lifted. Meanwhile, no tsunami threat is reported in Japan.