Ring of Fire volcanic development which surrounds the shores of the Pacific from Tierra del Fuego around to the Moluccas." (Matthew Perry, "Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, 1852-54," Introduction, Section I, "Name, Extent, and Geography") About 90% of the world's earthquakes and 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. The next most seismically active region (5–6% of earthquakes and 17% of the world's largest earthquakes) is the Alpide belt, which extends from Java to the northern Atlantic Ocean via the Himalayas and southern Europe. All but three of the
Alpide belt Alpide belt The Alpide belt or Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt is a seismic belt and orogenic belt that includes an array of mountain ranges extending along the southern margin of Eurasia, stretching from Java to Sumatra through the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and out into the Atlantic. It includes the Alps, the Carpathians, the Pyrenees, the mountains of Anatolia and Iran, the Hindu Kush, and the mountains of Southeast Asia. It is the second most seismically active region in the world, after the circum-Pacific belt (the Ring of Fire), with 17% of the world's largest earthquakes. The Alpide belt is being created