Ring of Fire 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 southern 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. The presence of a belt of volcanic activity surrounding the Pacific Ocean was observed in the 19th century. "They [the Japanese Islands] are in the line of that immense circle of
Ocean Isle Beach house fire The investigation was continuing as October 30. Ocean Isle Beach Fire Department Chief Robert Yoho said the house might have been burning for as long as 20 minutes before any emergency personnel arrived. The morning of the fire was windy, apparently an aggravating factor in the quickness it spread. Yoho commented: "with the wind, it just basically feeds the fire." USC vice president of student affairs Dennis Pruitt later commented that the fact the house was built on stilts, which allowed air to fuel the flames and that it caught fire after a stretch of dry weather, was "a sad