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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Disasters & Emergencies

Pacific Ring of Fire Sees Major Earthquakes in Venezuela, Philippines, Japan, Afghanistan

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Major earthquakes struck Venezuela, the Philippines, Japan, and Afghanistan along the Pacific Ring of Fire in the past week.
  • Venezuela experienced a powerful doublet of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes, causing widespread destruction and over 2,000 fatalities.
  • Other significant tremors, including a 6.5 magnitude quake in Mindanao, Philippines, occurred but did not result in significant damage or tsunamis due to deeper epicenters or different fault mechanisms.

The Pacific Ring of Fire has been a hub of intense tectonic activity over the past week, with significant earthquakes recorded across several countries. Venezuela was particularly hard-hit by a devastating doublet of earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude, striking just 39 seconds apart. These powerful tremors, triggered by strike-slip fault activity, caused massive structural damage and resulted in over 2,000 deaths and 11,000 injuries.

The global seismicity map shows the dominance of tectonic activity concentrated along the Pacific Ring of Fire belt.

— DaryonoA member of the Indonesian Disaster Experts Association, commenting on the global seismic activity.

Daryono, a member of the Indonesian Disaster Experts Association, noted the dominance of tectonic activity along this belt. Following Venezuela, Japan experienced two notable seismic events: a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Kuji on June 25 and a magnitude 6.0 tremor in Iwate on July 1. Daryono explained these were manifestations of plate subduction. Although significant energy was released, these earthquakes occurred at greater depths and underwater, preventing damage or tsunamis.

In the Philippines, Mindanao was shaken by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake on June 26. Classified as an intra-slab earthquake, it caused panic due to strong local tremors but no infrastructure damage. This followed a previous 7.8 magnitude earthquake on June 8 that killed 81 people and triggered a small tsunami in Indonesia. Afghanistan also registered a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Jurm on June 27, caused by crustal deformation. While its epicenter was in a sparsely populated area, seismic waves were felt strongly in Kabul and Pakistan.

The ground acceleration was strong and destructive, causing massive structural damage in the affected area, leading to the deaths of thousands of people.

— DaryonoDescribing the impact of the earthquakes in Venezuela.

These consecutive strong earthquakes underscore the high tectonic dynamics along the Pacific Ring of Fire. Each seismic zone within this volcanic belt exhibits unique source mechanism characteristics, with impacts heavily influenced by the earthquake's depth.

So despite the energy released, the resulting tremors did not cause any damage or tsunami.

— DaryonoExplaining why the earthquakes in Japan did not cause damage despite their magnitude.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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