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04/13/2005:

"Pacific 'Ring of Fire' awakened by Indonesian quakes"

MOUNT TALANG, Indonesia (AFP) - Massive quakes in Indonesia have stirred two huge volcanoes from their slumber and sent shockwaves reverberating along a vast and volatile region known as the Pacific "Ring of Fire."

Both on land or underwater, the volatile edges of the north Pacific, bounded by the east Asian rim and the west coast of the Americas, are alive with near-constant seismic activity.

Some of the most dramatic natural disasters of recent history have happened within the Ring's arc, which stretches from Chile, north to Alaska and then west to encompass Japan, Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands.

From the nuclear-like explosion of Krakatoa volcano off Indonesia in 1883 to the eruption of Mount St Helens in the United States in 1980, the Ring's awesome power is legendary.

But it gained new notoriety when on December 26 last year, a massive 9.3 magnitude earthquake occurred off Indonesia unleashing tsunamis that devastated shores around the Indian Ocean, killing more than 220,000 people.
Full Article: news.yahoo.com