GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The island nation of Japan lies along the western edge of the Ring of Fire, and is one of the most tectonically active places on Earth.

Detailed explanation-2: -Japan’s stretch of the Ring of Fire is where the North American, Pacific, Eurasian and Philippine plates come together. Northern Japan is largely on top of the western tip of the North American plate. Southern Japan sits mostly above the Eurasian plate.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Pacific Ring of Fire stretches across 15 more countries including Indonesia, New Zealand, Papa New Guinea, Philippines, Japan, United States, Chile, Canada, Guatemala, Russia and Peru etc (fig. 3).

Detailed explanation-4: -The current configuration of the Pacific Ring of Fire has been created by the development of the present-day subduction zones, initially (by about 115 million years ago) in South America, North America and Asia.

Detailed explanation-5: -Japan is vulnerable because it sits on top of the intersection of the Pacific Plate and at least three others-the Eurasian Plate, a sub plate and the Philippine Plate. Geologists aren’t exactly sure how many plates and sub plates are in the area, but they are all colliding and grinding against each other.