Q 01/05

Roughly how wide is the Ring of Fire at its broadest?

A) About 500 km

B) About 50 km

C) About 150 km

D) About 2,000 km

Answer · why

A) About 500 km

It is also called the Circum-Pacific belt, the Rim of Fire and the Girdle of Fire.

Q 02/05

Roughly how long is the Ring of Fire?

A) About 4,000 km

B) About 12,000 km

C) About 40,000 km

D) About 100,000 km

Answer · why

C) About 40,000 km

It is up to about 500 km wide and has existed for more than 35 million years.

Q 03/05

Approximately what share of the world's earthquakes occur within the Ring of Fire?

A) About 90 percent

B) About 30 percent

C) About 50 percent

D) About 70 percent

Answer · why

A) About 90 percent

The next most active region, running through the Himalayas and southern Europe, is a distant second.

Q 04/05

The Ring of Fire contains roughly what fraction of the world's active or dormant volcanoes?

A) About one-tenth

B) About one-third

C) About two-thirds

D) Nearly all

Answer · why

C) About two-thirds

The count runs from 750 to 915 depending on which disputed regions are included.

Q 05/05

Which of these is another name for the Ring of Fire?

A) The Tethys Girdle

B) The Circum-Pacific belt

C) The Great Volcanic Rim

D) The Trans-Pacific Arc

Answer · why

B) The Circum-Pacific belt

It is also called the Rim of Fire and the Girdle of Fire, names preserved from the old belief that volcanoes were fires burning inside the Earth.