In the aftermath of the strong earthquake and devastating tsunami in Indonesia, many people were asking why many earthquakes are recorded in the said country, and in Asia a whole.
The Southeast Asian archipelago nation is reeling after yet another powerful earthquake struck Friday, followed by a tsunami, leaving nearly 400 people dead and hundreds injured.
Due to the 7.5 magnitude quake it brought tsunami sweeping many establishments and properties in an Indonesian city. The walls of water engulfed towns, swept away buildings and tossed cars like toys.
Indonesia and other Asian countries is prone to earthquakes because it’s on the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the basin of the Pacific Ocean.
The area shaped like a shoe spans 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) and is where a majority of the world’s earthquakes occur.
One of the most seismically active zones on the planet, it stretches from Japan and Indonesia on one side of the Pacific all the way across to California and South America on the other.
“Plate tectonics and the Ring of Fire are the main reasons why Indonesia has so many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions,” CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar said.
“The earth below them is constantly changing and constantly moving,” Chinchar added.
RING OF FIRE
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