Begin Exercise Message

***Event 1.1***

**20060815 0915L**

***To:* All PCR WINGS**

***From: PCREX #3 Control Staff***

######## Via: Email

## Seismic Activity in the Pacific Rim

### Press Release by Ima. R. Porter

Volcanic Activity and Super Plume Theory Predictions for 2006 Excerpts\
By [Lance Winslow](http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow)

Many scientists expect continued Volcanic Activity along the Pacific Rim
of Fire due to the seismic activity and civil unrest of many of the
volcanoes throughout and adjacent to the Rim of Fire. **Meaning we will
have more activity in underwater volcanic vents heating up the ocean,
more escape of gas, more steam and more volcanic ash. Expect the
2006-year to be filled with volcanic and seismic activity with as much
sound, shaking and fury as 2005 and perhaps more.**

*From: Brantley, 1994, Volcanoes of the United States: USGS General
Interest Publication*

Volcanoes are not randomly distributed over the Earth\'s surface. Most
are concentrated on the edges of continents, along island chains, or
beneath the sea forming long mountain ranges. More than half of the
world\'s active volcanoes above sea level encircle the Pacific Ocean to
form the circum-Pacific **\"Ring of Fire.\"** In the past 25 years,
scientists have developed a theory \-- called **plate tectonics** \--
that explains the locations of volcanoes and their relationship to other
large-scale geologic features. It is the shifting and colliding of these
plates that create seismic activity and allow for venting of the earth's
molten lava core. Hawaii is deemed one of the "hot spots" by USGS,
Located in the middle of the **Pacific Plate**, the **volcanoes of the
Hawaiian Island chain** are among the largest on Earth. The volcanoes
stretch 2,500 kilometers across the North Pacific Ocean and become
progressively older to the northwest. Formed initially above a
relatively stationary **\"hot spot\"** in the Earth\'s interior, each
volcano was rafted away from the hot spot as the **Pacific Plate** moves
northwestward at about 9 centimeters per year. The island of Hawaii
consists of the youngest volcanoes in the chain and is currently located
over the **hot spot**.

New oceanic-plate (lithosphere) material is generated by the upwelling
processes at spreading ridges. Old lithosphere is consumed, and recycled
deep into the mantle, at the same rate as the convergent trenches. The
balance is global only: the formation of lithosphere at the
**Mid-Atlantic Ridge** is compensated by seduction primarily in the
western Pacific.

Plates slide past one another along strike-slip faults, which can be
either on land or at sea. The best known of these faults is the **San
Andreas Fault of California**. \...

There are more than 500 active volcanoes (those that have erupted at
least once within recorded history) in the world \-- 50 of which are in
the United States **(Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and
California**) \-- although many more may be hidden under the seas. Most
active volcanoes are strung like beads along, or near current landmasses
that make up the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Preparation for disastrous earthquakes created by high intensity seismic
activity can be found at [www.ready.gov;]()
[www.fema.gov](http://www.fema.gov/) or from the
[www.geophys.washington.edu/recenteqs](http://www.geophys.washington.edu/recenteqs).

For more information on the Pacific Rim and "Ring of Fire"
[www.vulcan.wr.usgs.gov]()

For information on seismic activity in relation to the Pacific Ocean and
Pacific Rim States:

www.legislative.noaa.gov/Testimony/johnson012605.pdf

Note: These are only excerpts from various news articles and are only
meant to prepare PACR members for the results of a catastrophic seismic
event or other disaster (simulated or real) should one occur.

## END EXERCISE MESSAGE