page_title: Ring of Fire
section_title: Guatemala
hierarchical_section_title: Ring of Fire / Central America / Guatemala
caption_attribution_description: Español: El Volcán Santiaguito se ubica en Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Mantiene actividad desde su nacimiento a principios del Siglo XX.
context_page_description: The Ring of Fire is a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. In a large 40,000 km horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts and plate movements. It has 452 volcanoes.
  About 90% of the world's earthquakes and about 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. All but three of the world's 25 largest volcanic eruptions of the last 11,700 years occurred at volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire is a direct result of plate tectonics: the movement and collisions of lithospheric plates, especially subduction in the northern portion. The western 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.
context_section_description: In 1902, the Santa Maria Volcano erupted violently in Guatemala, with the largest explosions occurring over two days, ejecting an estimated 5.5 km³ (1.3 cu mi) of magma. The eruption was one of the largest of the 20th century, only slightly less in magnitude to that of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. The eruption had a volcanic explosivity index of 6. Today, Santiaguito is one of the world's most active volcanoes. Santa Maria and Santiaguito, Guatemala Santiaguito
caption: Santiaguito Volcano, 2003 eruption in Guatemala
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