The common denominator between my Breitbart published story, “Earth Quake Storm Rattles California,” about the 100 quakes of up to 5.3 magnitude that rolled through Southern California on Saturday, the 8.1 magnitude monster that pummeled Chile Tuesday, and the 5.8 magnitude shaker that hit Panama today is that they are nature’s announcement that the volcanic Ring of Fire is moving into its most active cycle.
This latest active cycle began slowly in 2012 with a string of noteworthy volcanic eruptions and small earthquakes along the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean. It is not good news that the west coast has not experienced any devastating seismic events in decades, because that means the underground stress is building. Earthquake storms, like the recent one in L.A., demonstrate a big breadth of seismic activity and are almost always precursor to more meaningful quakes.
The Ring of Fire runs for 25,000 miles in a horseshoe shape along the Pacific west coast, across to the Polynesian Islands and up the east Coast of Asia. It is moving out of its approximately 65 year quiet period and into its 65 year active period. The Ring is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts and plates that all can become active.
Approximately 90% of all earthquakes and 80% of all volcanic eruptions in the world occur along the Ring of Fire. The entire west coast of the United States sits along an intense area of the Ring of Fire that is impacted by a massive network of faults that run underneath California, Oregon, and Washington.
Because no earthquake or volcanic activity happened near a highly populated area over the last two years, the press was oblivious to this dangerous new threat from Mother Nature. That has not been the case for the insurance industry actuaries, which have a vested interest in the size and duration of volcanic cycles. With a third of the world’s population living along the Ring, quakes or even volcanic activity in L.A., Shanghai, or Tokyo could cost up to a trillion dollars in damages and lost commerce.
Here is a list of indicators from 2012 that announced the Ring of Fire had woken up:
1) Mount Lokon, located in Indonesia, erupted more than 800 times and in July volcanic ash spewed from it reached heights of up to 10,000 feet.
2) A high danger “orange alert” was issued for towns and villages near the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador. It erupted and shot lava up to a half mile above its crater.
3) Lava is still flowing out of the Tolbachik volcano which is located on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
4) Lava flowed continuously from the rising Fuego volcano in Guatemala.
5) An ash plume of almost 2 miles rose above Paluweh volcano in Indonesia.
6) There was an earthquake storm with 4 seismic events per hour at the Popocatépetl volcano in Mexico.
7) Scientists recently discovered “a new and growing underwater volcano” on the floor of the ocean off the coast of Baja, Mexico that is 165 feet tall, 4,000 feet long and 1,640 feet wide.
8) Mt. Fuji (located not too far from Tokyo, Japan) started waking up after being dormant for about 300 years. A study found a “magma chamber under the mountain has come under immense pressure.” One prominent scientist warned that Mt. Fuji is due for “a big-scale explosive eruption.” Authorities were alarmed when a tunnel leading to Mt. Fuji collapsed in December and killed 9 people.
9) Scientists began warning that there was a very dangerous build-up of magma at a large number of Japan’s 110 active volcanoes.
10) A magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia.
11) A magnitude-6.0 earthquake hit the New Britain region of Papua New Guinea two days later.
12) A magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck the Gulf of Alaska in November.
13) A magnitude-7.3 earthquake hit Japan in December.
14) There was a substantial increase in earthquake activity in the Long Valley caldera region of California, as “magma started moving down the mountains.”
15) Over one five-week period, more than 170 significant earthquakes were detected in one town in Chile. That town, known as “one of the shakiest places on earth,” was heavily damaged by the 8.1 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday.
Although one recent survey found that a stunning 36% of all Americans believe that the increase in natural disasters we have seen in recent years is an indication we are in the Biblical end times, we have just begun another 65 years of learning about all the exciting natural wonders the Ring of Fire has raged on the earth for millenniums.
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