Where Is the Ring of Fire?

The Ring of Fire runs around the edge of the Pacific Ocean: from New Zealand and Tonga north through Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, across to Alaska, then down the west coast of the Americas to southern Chile.

Last updated 11 October 2026

Blue: Ring of Fire subduction zones. Dashed: the Sunda arc. Gray: other plate boundaries. See every volcano on the Ring of Fire map.

Data source: PB2002 plate model, Bird (2003), converted by Hugo Ahlenius, Nordpil, ODC-By 1.0. Download: GeoJSON .

The route around the Pacific

The Ring of Fire follows the lines where ocean plates sink under their neighbors. Start in the southwest Pacific: the Pacific Plate dives under the small Kermadec and Tonga plates of PB2002, north of New Zealand. The ring then runs west and north past Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, through the Philippines and up the east side of Japan.

From Japan it follows the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka, swings east along the Aleutian Islands and southern Alaska, and turns south down the coast of North America. Off Oregon and Washington the small Juan de Fuca Plate sinks under the continent at the Cascadia subduction zone. Farther south the Cocos Plate sinks under Mexico and Central America, and the Nazca Plate sinks under South America, where it built the Andes. The ring ends near the tip of Chile.

Indonesia is where people disagree. Its eastern islands are on the ring. Sumatra and Java sit on the Sunda arc , which faces the Indian Ocean. Many maps include it, so we draw it dashed and count it apart.

Key facts

The ring is made of 37 subduction zones between plate pairs, 41,188 km of boundary in the PB2002 model. Bird (2003)
Its volcanoes reach from Sanford (United States, 62°N, 144°W) in the north to Lindenberg Island (Antarctica, 65°S, 60°W) in the south. NOAA NCEI Volcano Locations Database
31 countries and ocean areas in the NOAA database have volcanoes in the ring.
In the 30 days to 2026-10-11, 402 of 596 magnitude 4.5+ earthquakes worldwide (67%) were within 450 km of the ring. USGS earthquake feeds
The longest part is the Nazca and South American boundary, 4,297 km near 28°S, 72°W. Bird (2003)

Every part of the ring, by plate pair

Each subduction zone in the ring, longest first, with the volcanoes whose nearest subduction zone it is. Sort by any column.

Subduction zones of the Ring of Fire and the Sunda arc
Plates	Part of	Length (km)	Volcanoes	Near
Nazca and South American	Ring of Fire	4,297	104	28°S, 72°W
North American and Pacific	Ring of Fire	3,656	82	52°N, 169°W
Sunda and Australian	Sunda arc	3,294	94	11°S, 118°E
Pacific and Okhotsk	Ring of Fire	3,016	136	35°N, 142°E
Kermadec and Pacific	Ring of Fire	2,306	29	33°S, 178°W
Philippine Sea and Sunda	Ring of Fire	2,244	50	11°N, 126°E
Australian and Pacific	Ring of Fire	2,156	8	11°S, 162°E
Mariana and Pacific	Ring of Fire	1,822	28	18°N, 148°E
Philippine Sea and Pacific	Ring of Fire	1,819	17	27°N, 143°E
Cocos and North American	Ring of Fire	1,710	33	15°N, 97°W
Burma and Indian	Sunda arc	1,417	4	8°N, 92°E
Juan de Fuca and North American	Ring of Fire	1,415	53	45°N, 125°W
New Hebrides and Australian	Ring of Fire	1,351	18	20°S, 168°E
Nazca and North Andes	Ring of Fire	1,329	37	7°N, 79°W
Tonga and Pacific	Ring of Fire	1,126	28	18°S, 173°W
Okinawa and Philippine Sea	Ring of Fire	1,126	14	29°N, 132°E
Scotia and Antarctic	Ring of Fire	1,049	3	56°S, 73°W
Okhotsk and North American	Ring of Fire	935	62	58°N, 164°E
Nazca and Altiplano	Ring of Fire	901	29	18°S, 73°W
Molucca Sea and Sunda	Ring of Fire	874	18	2°N, 121°E
Birds Head and Caroline	Ring of Fire	765	0	0°N, 135°E
Amur and Philippine Sea	Ring of Fire	762	41	33°N, 136°E
Antarctic and South American	Ring of Fire	731	7	48°S, 77°W
South Bismarck and Solomon Sea	Ring of Fire	655	23	6°S, 152°E
Solomon Sea and Woodlark	Ring of Fire	591	15	8°S, 151°E
Birds Head and Banda Sea	Ring of Fire	563	4	3°S, 131°E
Caribbean and Cocos	Ring of Fire	546	54	12°N, 88°W
Cocos and Panama	Ring of Fire	533	12	9°N, 85°W
Shetland and Antarctic	Ring of Fire	435	8	61°S, 60°W
Caroline and Woodlark	Ring of Fire	426	0	2°S, 141°E
Banda Sea and Sunda	Ring of Fire	415	1	2°S, 119°E
North American and Rivera	Ring of Fire	396	5	21°N, 106°W
Birds Head and Philippine Sea	Ring of Fire	389	0	0°N, 131°E
Molucca Sea and Birds Head	Ring of Fire	229	3	1°N, 126°E
North Bismarck and Woodlark	Ring of Fire	194	11	3°S, 143°E
Burma and Australian	Sunda arc	162	3	2°N, 96°E
North Bismarck and Solomon Sea	Ring of Fire	159	4	7°S, 154°E
Pacific and Woodlark	Ring of Fire	121	0	8°S, 156°E
Birds Head and Sunda	Ring of Fire	87	10	2°N, 127°E
Pacific and Solomon Sea	Ring of Fire	62	2	7°S, 155°E

Data source: PB2002 plate model, Bird (2003), converted by Hugo Ahlenius, Nordpil, ODC-By 1.0.

Data source: NOAA NCEI Volcano Locations Database, Public domain (US Government work).

Earthquakes on the ring

Most earthquakes happen at plate boundaries, and subduction zones have them at every depth, from shallow to deep, USGS explains. In the USGS feed for the 30 days to 2026-10-11, 67% of the magnitude 4.5 and larger earthquakes in the world fell within 450 km of the ring. The live list is on the earthquake map.

Data source: USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, M4.5+ past 30 days, Public domain (US Government work).

Related: the subduction zones map shows every subduction boundary on Earth, the Pacific Plate and Philippine Sea Plate pages show the plates inside the ring, and the tectonic plates map shows all of them.

Glossary

Ring of Fire: The belt of volcanic arcs and ocean trenches that partly rings the Pacific Ocean, where earthquakes and eruptions are frequent. Source
Volcanic arc: A curved chain of volcanoes that runs parallel to an ocean trench, always on the landward side, fed by the plate sinking below it. Source
Subduction zone: Where one plate sinks under another and back into the mantle, usually marked by a deep ocean trench. Source
Ocean trench: A long, narrow trough in the sea floor, 8 to 10 km deep, where one plate bends down under another. Source
Hotspot: A small, long-lived, very hot region under a plate that feeds volcanoes far from plate edges, such as Hawaii. As the plate moves over it, a chain of volcanoes forms. Source

All terms in the glossary

Where is the Ring of Fire: FAQ

Where is the Ring of Fire located?

Which countries are in the Ring of Fire?

Counting volcanoes in the NOAA database within 450 km of the ring: Russia, United States, Japan, Chile, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Argentina, Indonesia, New Zealand, Mexico and 21 more.

Is the United States in the Ring of Fire?

Yes. Alaska and the Aleutian Islands lie on it, and so do Washington, Oregon and northern California through the Cascadia subduction zone. The NOAA database lists the Cascade volcanoes, such as Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier, among them.

Why is it called the Ring of Fire?

Because volcanoes and earthquakes cluster in a ring around the Pacific Ocean. USGS describes it as a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions formed by volcanic arcs and ocean trenches.

Is Hawaii in the Ring of Fire?

No. Hawaii sits in the middle of the Pacific Plate, more than 3,200 km from the nearest plate boundary, according to USGS. Its volcanoes come from a hotspot, not from subduction. Ring of Fire earthquakes can still send tsunamis to Hawaii.

Is Australia in the Ring of Fire?

No. Australia sits inside the Australian Plate. The ring passes to its north and east, through Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga and New Zealand.

Sources: USGS, Ring of Fire; USGS, Hotspots; USGS, Tsunamis and the Ring of Fire; Bird (2003) for the boundaries; NOAA NCEI for volcanoes.