Maarg Manthan · Topic 4.7

Distribution of Volcanoes and Earthquakes – Ring of Fire

Geography › Mountains, Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunami · Topic 4.7

Volcanoes and earthquakes are not scattered at random but concentrate along plate boundaries. The Circum-Pacific Ring of Fire holds about three-quarters of the world's volcanoes and about 80 per cent of its largest earthquakes, the Alpine-Himalayan belt holds most of the rest, and the mid-oceanic ridges and a few hotspots complete the pattern. India has only one active volcano but large seismic belts.

6 min read · UPSC Prelims · Geography · Mountains, Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunami

At a Glance

Ring of Fire About 40,000 km; over 450 volcanoes; about 90 per cent of earthquakes
Alpine-Himalayan belt Mediterranean to Indonesia; about 15 to 17 per cent of quakes
Mid-oceanic ridges Mostly submarine volcanoes; moderate shallow quakes
Intraplate Hotspots and rifts
India One active volcano; seismic zones II to V
Exam link UPSC Prelims, Geography: Mountains, Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunami

Where Does It Fit?

This is the seventh topic of the category on mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunami. The previous topic described hotspots, and this one maps where volcanoes and earthquakes occur on the globe. The next topic covers the effects of volcanoes. Previous topic: Hotspots, Mantle Plumes, Geysers and Hot Springs. Next topic: Effects of Volcanoes.

What Is the Ring of Fire?

In short: the Ring of Fire is a horseshoe-shaped belt around the Pacific Ocean with the most volcanoes and earthquakes on Earth.

The Circum-Pacific belt, popularly called the Ring of Fire, runs for about 40,000 km along the edges of the Pacific Ocean. It follows the subduction zones where the Pacific, Nazca, Cocos, Juan de Fuca and other plates dive beneath neighbouring plates. It has more than 450 volcanoes, which is about three-quarters of all active and dormant volcanoes, and about 90 per cent of the world’s earthquakes, including most of the largest. The belt runs from the Andes along the western coast of the Americas, through the Cascades and the Aleutians, down the coasts of Kamchatka, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand, to the islands of the southwestern Pacific. The mechanism is explained in Ocean-Ocean Convergence and Island Arcs and Ocean-Continent Convergence – Andes and Rockies.

Which Are the Three Main Belts?

Belt	Extent	Share and features
Circum-Pacific belt	Rim of the Pacific Ocean	About 81 per cent of the largest earthquakes; most volcanoes; subduction zones; deep earthquakes
Mediterranean-Himalayan (Alpine) belt	From the Mediterranean through Turkey, Iran, the Himalayas and Myanmar to Indonesia	About 15 to 17 per cent of earthquakes; collision zone with fewer volcanoes, except in the Mediterranean (Etna, Vesuvius, Stromboli) and Indonesia
Mid-oceanic ridge belt	Along the Mid-Atlantic, Indian and Pacific ridges	Frequent shallow, weaker earthquakes; mostly submarine volcanism; Iceland, Azores

Additional areas of activity are intraplate: the Hawaiian hotspot, the East African Rift and the Yellowstone region, described in Hotspots, Mantle Plumes, Geysers and Hot Springs and Great Rift Valley and Rift Valley Lakes. Large earthquakes can also happen within old continental interiors, though rarely, as with the 1811-12 New Madrid earthquakes in the USA and the 2001 Bhuj earthquake in India’s Kachchh.

Why Do the Two Phenomena Coincide?

The distribution of earthquakes and of volcanoes follows the same pattern. Earthquakes and volcanoes occur together because both are driven by plate motion. At subduction zones the sinking plate causes earthquakes, as it grinds and bends, and also feeds magma to volcanoes above it. At divergent boundaries, rifting causes shallow earthquakes while magma rises. At transform boundaries there are earthquakes but few volcanoes, and in continental collisions there are strong earthquakes and few volcanoes. This overlap is why a map of earthquake epicentres and a map of volcanoes look almost identical, and why the line of epicentres outlines the plate boundaries, as in Plate Tectonics and Types of Plate Boundaries.

What Is the Situation in India?

India has just one confirmed active volcano, Barren Island in the Andaman Sea, and a dormant volcano, Narcondam Island. The Deccan Traps, Dhinodhar hills and other volcanic features are extinct. However, India has large seismic belts: the Himalayan arc from Jammu and Kashmir to the Northeast, the Indo-Gangetic plain, the Kachchh region of Gujarat and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The seismic zones of India are fixed by the Bureau of Indian Standards and are used for building codes. The 2016 code, IS 1893 (Part 1), has four zones, II to V, with Zone V the most severe and covering the Northeast, parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, the Rann of Kachchh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

A revised code issued in late 2025 introduced a sixth, higher-risk zone for the entire Himalayan arc, but the Bureau of Indian Standards withdrew it in March 2026, so the four-zone map of 2016 remains the one in force. As an analytical point, the withdrawal shows that seismic zoning involves a balance between hazard science and the cost of construction, and that students should always note the date of a map or code when quoting it.

What Are the Major Earthquake Disasters in India?

Kachchh (Bhuj), 2001: magnitude 7.7, killing about 20,000 people, in the interior of the plate.
Latur, 1993: a shallow earthquake in peninsular India, a stable region.
Kashmir, 2005: magnitude 7.6, in the Himalayan collision zone.
Sikkim, 2011: magnitude 6.9, in the eastern Himalaya.

Peninsular India was long thought to be stable, but the Latur and Bhuj events showed that it also has hazard, mostly from reactivated old faults. Earthquake causes are discussed in Earthquakes – Causes, Focus and Richter Scale.

Why Is This Topic Important?

Map-based Belts frequently asked
India Zones and Barren Island
Link Plate tectonics evidence

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the effects of volcanoes. Next topic: Effects of Volcanoes.

Key People and Terms

Ring of Fire Circum-Pacific belt of volcanoes
Seismic zone Area of similar earthquake hazard
Epicentre Surface point above the focus
Intraplate earthquake Quake inside a plate
Barren Island India’s active volcano
Narcondam Dormant volcano of Andaman

Exam Corner

Points to Remember

Ring of Fire is about 40,000 km long.
About 90 per cent of earthquakes occur in the Ring.
Barren Island is India’s active volcano.
India uses four seismic zones, II to V.
Bhuj 2001 was in the plate interior.

Do Not Confuse With

Circum-Pacific and Mediterranean-Himalayan belts Pacific rim versus Eurasian collision belt
Barren Island and Narcondam Active versus dormant
Zone V and Zone II Most versus least severe

Memory Hook

Ring around the Pacific, belt across Eurasia, ridge beneath the seas; Barren is India’s lone fire.

Mains Angle

Questions ask for the pattern and its cause. These points add depth.

Pattern Plate boundaries
India Seismic zones
Risk Codes and preparedness

A Question You May Face

An original practice question, not a past paper question.

“Describe the global distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes and explain why they occur together.”

How to Answer

Belts Pacific, Alpine, ridges.
Cause Plate boundaries.
Exceptions Hotspots, intraplate.
India Zones and Barren Island.

GS Relevance

Prelims: Ring of Fire, belts of earthquakes, seismic zones, Barren Island. GS Paper 1: distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Ring of Fire?

The Ring of Fire is the Circum-Pacific belt, about 40,000 km long, around the Pacific Ocean. It has more than 450 volcanoes, about three-quarters of the world's volcanoes, and about 90 per cent of its earthquakes, because it follows many subduction zones.

Which are the main earthquake belts of the world?

The main earthquake belts are the Circum-Pacific belt, which has about 81 per cent of the largest earthquakes, the Mediterranean-Himalayan belt, with about 15 to 17 per cent, and the mid-oceanic ridge belt, which has frequent but weaker shallow earthquakes.

Why do volcanoes and earthquakes occur in the same areas?

Both are caused by the movement of tectonic plates. Subduction zones cause earthquakes as the plates grind, and also supply magma to volcanoes. As a result the maps of volcanoes and earthquake epicentres closely resemble each other and outline the plate boundaries.

Which is the only active volcano in India?

Barren Island in the Andaman Sea is India's only confirmed active volcano. Narcondam Island, also in the Andaman Sea, is classed as dormant. They lie on the volcanic arc formed by the subduction of the Indian plate under the Burma plate.

How many seismic zones does India have?

India follows IS 1893 (Part 1) of 2016, which has four seismic zones, II to V, with Zone V the highest risk. A revised code of 2025 added a Zone VI for the Himalayan arc, but it was withdrawn in March 2026.

PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis

1 The Ring of Fire has about 90 per cent of the world's earthquakes.

True

It follows many subduction zones.

2 Barren Island in the Andaman Sea is an active volcano of India.