I thought that the ring of fire consisted of hundreds of volcanoes. 22 seems to be a pretty insignificant number to me. I am not a Geologist though.

[edit on 26-10-2006 by sardion2000]

OMW....that map is quite over whelming when you realise how many people at any one time are being affected by something. Thanks for the link

I have no idea if the volcanic activity going on at the moment is normal or not, what if the 'ring of fire' is just one massive supervolcanoe .

lets hope it all dwells down soon.

That is the most i've ever seen on rsoe, looks like something is going on. More active volcanoes in Italy and the carribean also, as well Java and Suamtra.

"Fallout" from 'lil Kims "test"? I'm really starting to wonder now...

On average something like 50 (of the many 100s) of volcanos around the world show activity in any given year. Activity which can last for weeks or months. Added to which some, like Kilauea (Hawaii) are almost permantly 'active'.

So having 22 active at any one time is nothing unsual at all.

It's when a lot of long dormant volcanos suddenly strat eruption you start to worry

I also noticed the spike over the last few days.

Another thing to note is alot of them have earthquake activity in the same region......

I really hate to pick at nits, but even with just a quick glance I saw a couple in that list that aren't from the ring of fire--Etna and Stromboli are both in Italy.

Essan is right--22 volcanos active at a given time isn't anything terribly special, but when the ones that haven't been doing much for the past couple of hundred years start rumbling (like Ranier, for instance...), something's going on.

aimlessly, volcanic activity and earthquakes go hand in hand, and just the amount of seismic activity is little indication of anything other than "something's happening at the volcano." The type of seismic activity (i.e. harmonic tremors and whatnot) is an entirely different ball game.

Originally posted by Strodyn
what if the 'ring of fire' is just one massive supervolcano

I don't think that is the case, It's just a way people describe it, not a large volcano, just a lot of them.

rather than using the map given on that page, use google earth if you can and turn on the volcano feature to locate them. looking at the ring of fire area 22 is not a lot.

As MCory1 said, when dormant ones start going, (such as Rainier, or if vesuvius truly woke up) then there is something worrying is going on.

Also if Cumbre Vieja starts rumbling, it will be a worry: (This is the location)

28°34'14.03"N 17°50'5.07"W

Thats just my opinion, I am not an expert, just interested.

Originally posted by MCory1
Essan is right--22 volcanos active at a given time isn't anything terribly special, but when the ones that haven't been doing much for the past couple of hundred years start rumbling (like Ranier, for instance...), something's going on.

It may be only of regional importance atm. If over 30 per cent of the ROF reawakens, then I'll take notice. IMO, any handwringing at this time is kind of premature, unless you happen to be living near one of these volcanoes that just woke up that is.

It's not like we can prepare for the global consequences now can we? If the consequences are bad enough, we'll adapt. We've done that so many times in the past 600,000 years that it gives me some measure of confidence that today, we'll most likely kill ourselves off before the Earth does.

Originally posted by sardion2000
It's not like we can prepare for the global consequences now can we? If the consequences are bad enough, we'll adapt. We've done that so many times in the past 600,000 years that it gives me some measure of confidence that today, we'll most likely kill ourselves off before the Earth does.

You're right there, we shouldn't forget that 74,000 years ago when toba (most recent supereruption, 2,500 cubic kilometres of magma) erupted, there wasn't any true civilization, but we survived that.