As the world tries to recover from Russia's July 2025 megaquake, millions of people have been warned to brace for what could be the start of a catastrophic Earth event.
Measuring a colossal 8.8 on the Richter scale, the quake originated in Russia's remote Far East and caused widespread damage as tsunamis made it as far as Japan and Hawaii.
Dubbed the sixth-biggest earthquake ever recorded, and the biggest since 2011's devastating New Year's Day quake, Russia's tremors aren't to be taken lightly. Even though the Russian earthquake is still a way off the 1960 Valdivia earthquake measuring 9.5 on the Richter scale, the fact that Japan's 2011 disaster measured 9.0 to 9.1 and claimed nearly 20,000 lives shows how unpredictable these natural disasters can be.
We could soon have more to worry about than just cruise passengers being left behind, with scientists warning Russia's quake could trigger a chain reaction in the Pacific Ocean's deadly 'Ring of Fire'.
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Speaking to the Daily Mail, Michael Manga, a geoscientist at the University of California, Berkeley, suggested that things could be about to get a whole lot worse. Measuring around 40,000 km long and 500 km wide, the Ring of Fire spans almost all of the Pacific Ocean and is home to up to 915 active or dormant volcanoes. This means two-thirds of the world's volcanoes are located here, while the Ring of Fire is also responsible for 90% of the world's earthquakes.
Noting how the Klyuchevskoy volcano, located in the Kamchatka peninsula, erupted shortly after the Russian earthquake despite being some 84 miles east-southeast, Manga reiterated: "The volcanoes in volcanic arcs, including Chile, the US Cascades, Japan, Indonesia, and Kamchatka, are prone to erupt after earthquakes."
Although not all are likely to be affected, those toward the west are most likely to react as he highlights 100 volcanoes that lie across Russia, Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia as being more at risk.
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In particular, others in Kamchatka could be primed to erupt, although Manga notes the overall threat is still relatively low. The Russian quake increased eruption chances by no more than five to 12 percent, so a volcano that had a one percent yearly eruption risk now sits at 1.1%.
NASA's Earth Observatory refers to Kamchatka as the 'Land of Fire and Ice', known as one of the most volcanically active regions on the planet, and home to around 300 volcanoes (29 that are currently active).
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The higher risk could last up to two years as scientists scramble to understand the impact the earthquake has had on underground pressure and movement of magma under the tectonic plates.
With a potential increase of pressure in magma chambers or existing fractures in the Earth's crust, new pathways can also spring up from existing magma reservoirs.
As for the Ring of Fire, it goes from Russia and Japan to the west coast of the USA before traveling down to Antarctica. Notably, the Ring of Fire includes the where it includes the towering Mount Erebus, which stands at 12,441 ft and is the Earth's southernmost active volcano.
Due to an interconnected system of deep ocean trenches that have been formed by tectonic subduction zones, an eruption anywhere in the Ring of Fire could trigger a chain of other volcanoes to follow suit.
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Even though Manga suggests the US volcanoes won't respond to the Russian earthquake, we should still keep an eye on the likes of Alaska's Great Sitkin Volcano, that have increased activity in 2025.