<P> The Ring of Fire is a direct result of plate tectonics : the movement and collisions of lithospheric plates . The eastern section of the ring is the result of the Nazca Plate and the Cocos Plate being subducted beneath the westward - moving South American Plate . The Cocos Plate is being subducted beneath the Caribbean Plate , in Central America . A portion of the Pacific Plate and the small Juan de Fuca Plate are being subducted beneath the North American Plate . Along the northern portion , the northwestward - moving Pacific plate is being subducted beneath the Aleutian Islands arc . Farther west , the Pacific plate is being subducted along the Kamchatka Peninsula arcs on south past Japan . The southern portion is more complex , with a number of smaller tectonic plates in collision with the Pacific plate from the Mariana Islands , the Philippines , Bougainville , Tonga , and New Zealand ; this portion excludes Australia , since it lies in the center of its tectonic plate . Indonesia lies between the Ring of Fire along the northeastern islands adjacent to and including New Guinea and the Alpide belt along the south and west from Sumatra , Java , Bali , Flores , and Timor . The famous and very active San Andreas Fault zone of California is a transform fault which offsets a portion of the East Pacific Rise under southwestern United States and Mexico . The motion of the fault generates numerous small earthquakes , at multiple times a day , most of which are too small to be felt . The active Queen Charlotte Fault on the west coast of the Haida Gwaii , British Columbia , has generated three large earthquakes during the 20th century : a magnitude 7 event in 1929 ; a magnitude 8.1 in 1949 ( Canada 's largest recorded earthquake ) ; and a magnitude 7.4 in 1970 . </P>
<P> The Ring of Fire is a direct result of plate tectonics : the movement and collisions of lithospheric plates . The eastern section of the ring is the result of the Nazca Plate and the Cocos Plate being subducted beneath the westward - moving South American Plate . The Cocos Plate is being subducted beneath the Caribbean Plate , in Central America . A portion of the Pacific Plate and the small Juan de Fuca Plate are being subducted beneath the North American Plate . Along the northern portion , the northwestward - moving Pacific plate is being subducted beneath the Aleutian Islands arc . Farther west , the Pacific plate is being subducted along the Kamchatka Peninsula arcs on south past Japan . The southern portion is more complex , with a number of smaller tectonic plates in collision with the Pacific plate from the Mariana Islands , the Philippines , Bougainville , Tonga , and New Zealand ; this portion excludes Australia , since it lies in the center of its tectonic plate . Indonesia lies between the Ring of Fire along the northeastern islands adjacent to and including New Guinea and the Alpide belt along the south and west from Sumatra , Java , Bali , Flores , and Timor . The famous and very active San Andreas Fault zone of California is a transform fault which offsets a portion of the East Pacific Rise under southwestern United States and Mexico . The motion of the fault generates numerous small earthquakes , at multiple times a day , most of which are too small to be felt . The active Queen Charlotte Fault on the west coast of the Haida Gwaii , British Columbia , has generated three large earthquakes during the 20th century : a magnitude 7 event in 1929 ; a magnitude 8.1 in 1949 ( Canada 's largest recorded earthquake ) ; and a magnitude 7.4 in 1970 . </P>
describe the pattern of volcanoes located in and around the pacific ocean
describe the pattern of volcanoes located in and around the pacific ocean
result of plate tectonics : the movement and collisions of lithospheric plates .
result of plate tectonics : the movement and collisions of lithospheric plates .