Mexico is not the only country to have been
hit by a powerful earthquake in recent days.
Places dotted around the so-called "Pacific
Ring of Fire" have been rocked by a series
of strong quakes in recent days,... fortunately
none as deadly as the one in Mexico.
For more about the sharp uptick in seismic
activity around the ring,... here's Park Ji-won.
In recent days,... a series of powerful earthquakes
have hit countries situated along the so-called
"Ring of Fire,"... regions surrounding the
Pacific Ocean that are prone to quakes and
volcanic eruptions.
In Taiwan,... a magnitude 5-point-7 earthquake
struck the east of the island nation late
Wednesday.
Although no casualties or damages have reported,...
the country's central weather bureau said
aftershocks of intensity-four and five magnitude
were detected.
In Japan,.. a six-point-one magnitude earthquake
struck off the east coast of the country.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey's
website,... the quake hit before the crack
of dawn on Thursday,... some 320 kilometers
east of Fukushima,... where a massive earthquake
and tsunami led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster
in 2011.
New Zealand,... another country in the Ring
of Fire,.. was hit by a 6-point-1 magnitude
undersea quake on Wednesday afternoon,...
rattling the southwest of the country.
A magnitude 6-point-4 quake struck Vanuatu's
fourth largest island Erromango in the Pacific
Ocean on Thursday.
It struck the center of the island at around
seven in the morning.
The so-called of Ring of Fire stretches over
some 40-thousand kilometers along the boundary
of the Pacific Plate and the smaller plates
that line the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
Earthquakes happen as the plates grind up
against each other and produce friction.
Park Ji-won, Arirang News.
