An earthquake is a sudden , often violent shaking of the Earth’s surface caused by the movement of tectonic plates along faults in the crust.

Where earthquakes are common

Earthquakes are most common in specific belts or zones where tectonic plates meet. These zones see repeated quakes year after year, including both small tremors and very large, damaging events.

Major earthquake belts

  • The circum-Pacific belt, also called the Ring of Fire, around the Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest earthquake belt, producing about 80% of the planet’s largest earthquakes. It includes coasts of countries like Japan, Indonesia, Chile, and the western United States.
  • The Alpide belt stretches from the Mediterranean region through Turkey, Iran, the Himalayas, and into Southeast Asia. Many powerful quakes occur along this belt, especially near mountain ranges formed by colliding plates.

Countries with frequent earthquakes

  • Countries with especially frequent or strong earthquakes include Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Turkey, Iran, Peru, the United States (especially California and Alaska), Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Greece, Italy, India, and Nepal.
  • In these places, many quakes are small and go unfelt, but history shows repeated major events that have caused serious damage and loss of life.

Can earthquakes happen anywhere?

  • Earthquakes can occur almost anywhere on Earth, not just in the biggest belts, because faults and crustal stresses exist in many regions.
  • However, areas near active plate boundaries face a much higher risk and experience earthquakes far more often than stable interior regions.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.