Japan is situated in a volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Frequent low-intensity earth tremors and occasional volcanic activity are felt throughout the islands. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunamis, occur several times a century.
जापान प्रशांत रिंग ऑफ फायर पर ज्वालामुखीय क्षेत्र में स्थित है। अक्सर कम
तीव्रता पृथ्वी के झटकों और कभी-कभी ज्वालामुखीय गतिविधि पूरे द्वीपों में महसूस
की जाती है। विनाशकारी भूकंप, अक्सर सूनामी के परिणामस्वरूप, कई बार एक शताब्दी
होती |
What is the Pacific Ring of Fire?
The Ring of Fire is a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. In a large 40,000 km horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts and plate movements. It has 452 volcanoes.
The cause for the earthquakes in Japan is the presence of volcanoes in the pacific ring of fire, this assumption though not entirely wrong(volcanic
the eruption is known to cause tremors in the earth's crust), is not the basic
cause of earthquakes in the region.
The cause of earthquakes in Japan is due to the phenomena of Plate tectonics.
Plate tectonics provides that the earth's crust rests on various plates which are constantly moving due to the magma inside the earth. The rate of the movement of the plates is slow and almost not discernable. It's when the plates grind against each other or converge with each other that seismic energy is released. Tokyo is situated on Japan's main Honshu island which in turn sits at the intersection of three continental plates, the Eurasian, Pacific, and Philippine Sea plates, which are slowly grinding against each other, building up enormous seismic pressure that every so often is realized with ferocious force.
Also, because of being an area with various plates constantly moving against each other, this area becomes a hotbed of volcanic activity with the volcanos providing a release for the inner magma. Hence, the presence of the Pacific ring of fire. [source: from
Quora by
Radhika Kher]
