Pacific Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire is the belt of subduction zones around the Pacific Ocean. It concentrates about 90% of the world’s earthquakes and two thirds of its active volcanoes.
Explainer page. The earthquake data comes from the USGS catalogue.
Magnitude ≥ 5
| Magnitude | Place | When | Depth | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.2 | 107 km NNE of Hihifo, Tonga | 10/15/26, 1:29 PM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.2 | 157 km W of Sola, Vanuatu | 10/15/26, 1:06 PM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.6 | 43 km NNW of Lake Minchumina, Alaska | 10/15/26, 11:07 AM UTC | 5 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.3 | 43 km SSE of Otorohanga, New Zealand | 10/15/26, 5:25 AM UTC | 286 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.9 | Fiji region | 10/14/26, 10:49 AM UTC | 585 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.0 | 98 km NW of Coquimbo, Chile | 10/14/26, 12:36 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.1 | 93 km NNW of Coquimbo, Chile | 10/14/26, 12:30 AM UTC | 22 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 6.0 | 126 km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea | 10/13/26, 6:45 PM UTC | 21 km | Strong (6 to 6.9) |
| 5.1 | 123 km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea | 10/13/26, 4:28 PM UTC | 37 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.3 | 129 km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea | 10/13/26, 2:36 PM UTC | 30 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.1 | 119 km SSW of Gambiran Satu, Indonesia | 10/13/26, 4:00 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 6.1 | 17 km W of Río Grande, Panama | 10/12/26, 11:20 PM UTC | 11 km | Strong (6 to 6.9) |
| 5.5 | 122 km W of Neiafu, Tonga | 10/12/26, 4:38 AM UTC | 195 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.2 | 152 km W of Gorontalo, Indonesia | 10/11/26, 9:34 PM UTC | 111 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.2 | 101 km SSW of Severo-Kuril’sk, Russia | 10/11/26, 5:00 PM UTC | 83 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 6.2 | 79 km SSE of Panguna, Papua New Guinea | 10/11/26, 2:07 PM UTC | 53 km | Strong (6 to 6.9) |
| 5.2 | 18 km SSE of Camaná, Peru | 10/11/26, 1:42 PM UTC | 45 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.2 | 180 km S of Pelabuhanratu, Indonesia | 10/11/26, 3:30 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.0 | 3 km NW of Flores, Panama | 10/11/26, 1:50 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.0 | 141 km E of Bitung, Indonesia | 10/10/26, 5:32 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 6.0 | 7 km N of La Tronosa, Panama | 10/10/26, 4:14 AM UTC | 10 km | Strong (6 to 6.9) |
| 5.1 | 1 km NNE of Tonosí, Panama | 10/10/26, 2:26 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.1 | 133 km WNW of Ternate, Indonesia | 10/10/26, 2:00 AM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.4 | 9 km SSE of Los Asientos, Panama | 10/9/26, 11:12 PM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
| 5.0 | 8 km ESE of La Tronosa, Panama | 10/9/26, 11:10 PM UTC | 10 km | Moderate (5 to 5.9) |
How to read this page
How to read the Ring of Fire
25 magnitude-5+ earthquakes in this page’s window fall inside the Ring of Fire, the chain of subduction zones around the Pacific.
Where this data comes from
U.S. Geological Survey earthquake catalogue, filtered by each plate’s geographic box.
What the plate map doesn’t predict
Sitting on an active plate boundary doesn’t say when the next big one hits; seismology can’t forecast an earthquake’s date.
Words on this page
Magnitude
A measure of the size of an earthquake at its source, on a logarithmic scale: each whole point multiplies the energy released by about 31.6. A magnitude 7 event releases a thousand times more energy than a magnitude 5, not 1.4 times.
Standard definition by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) — ANSS ComCat · Magnitude
Focal depth
How many kilometres below the surface the rupture began. The USGS calls it shallow up to 70 km, intermediate from 70 to 300 km and deep beyond that. A shallow quake shakes the surface far harder than a deep one of the same magnitude.
Standard definition by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) — ANSS ComCat · Focal depth
Data from 10/16/26, 12:30 AM UTC
- U.S. Geological Survey — Earthquake Hazards ProgramLicence: Domínio público (U.S. Public Domain) · Credit: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
How to read these numbers
The belt runs from southern Chile along South and Central America, California, Alaska, the Aleutians, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and New Zealand. Along almost all of it an oceanic plate dives beneath another, a process that produces deep earthquakes and magma.
Every measured earthquake of magnitude 9 or above happened in a subduction zone of this kind: Chile 1960, Alaska 1964, Sumatra 2004 and Japan 2011.
Frequently asked questions
- Which countries are in the Ring of Fire?
- Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Central America, Mexico, the United States (California and Alaska), Canada, Russia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga and New Zealand.
- Is the Ring of Fire more active now?
- There is no evidence of an increase. The impression comes from real time coverage and from the growing number of stations.