World Distribution of Earthquakes and Volcanoes
1. How Are Earthquakes and Volcanoes Distributed?
Volcanoes
Distributed all over the world in different countries and continents but are not found it every country.
- Found mostly on the coastline
- Especially on tectonic plate boundaries
Volcano prone areas:
- 'The Ring of Fire'
- Around the Pacific plate.
- Across the NOrth and South Atlantic ocean
- There are still anomalies - Hot spots
Earthquakes
Millions of tiny earthquakes happen everyday, but we only manage to notice the bigger, major ones.
- Found on mainland and coastlines
- Especially tectonic plate boundaries
Earthquake prone areas:
- Around Pacific Ocean
- Along the Indo-Australian pate boundary
- Eastern side of Eurasian plate
- Western side of North American plate
Volcanoes and earthquakes are both found on plate boundaries. However, there is a difference between the two since volcanoes are never found on conservative and divergent boundaries because there is no change in crust to allow more magma (molten rock) to be made.
Here you can see the outline of all the main plates.
Links:
2. Why earthquakes and volcanoes occur where they do
3. Characteristic features of plate boundaries
4. Earthquake magnitude measurement
5. Why people live in areas of seismic activity
6. Causes and effects of seismic activity on people and the environment