Q 01/05

Despite its name, the Ring of Fire is usually described as having which shape?

A) A figure of eight

B) A straight line

C) A horseshoe

D) A spiral

Answer · why

C) A horseshoe

A horseshoe: the Ring runs up the Americas, across to Asia and down to New Zealand, but its two ends never meet, because its chain of trenches and vol...

Q 02/05

The Ring of Fire's 40,000 km length is close to which distance?

A) Pole to pole

B) Around the Earth

C) Earth to Moon

D) Across the Pacific

Answer · why

B) Around the Earth

Around the Earth at the equator is 40,075 km. The near-round figure is no accident: the metre was first defined so that the distance from pole to equa...

Q 03/05

Roughly what share of the world's earthquakes strike along the Ring of Fire?

A) About 3 percent

B) About 10 percent

C) About 30 percent

D) About 90 percent

Answer · why

D) About 90 percent

About 90 percent, including most of the very largest: nearly all the way round, ocean floor is being forced under the neighbouring plates, and the two...

Q 04/05

Which Pacific island nation's undersea volcano produced the biggest atmospheric blast ever recorded by instruments, in January 2022?

A) Fiji

B) Vanuatu

C) Tonga

D) Samoa

Answer · why

C) Tonga

Tonga's Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano sent shock waves right around the globe, and its booms were heard on the far side of the Pacific, more than ...

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

The Circum-Pacific belt is its plainer name. The fiery one suits the word volcano itself, which comes from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.