The global belt surrounding the Pacific Ocean is called the Ring of Fire.
The Ring of Fire is a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity around the edges of the Pacific Ocean. Much of this activity is associated with subduction, in which one tectonic plate sinks beneath another into the mantle. Subduction helps create deep ocean trenches, powerful earthquakes, and chains of volcanoes.
The belt includes parts of the west coasts of North and South America, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, and other Pacific-margin regions. It is not a perfectly continuous circle, and its boundaries are defined by many separate plate boundaries and fault systems.
The Ring of Fire does not mean every location along the Pacific coastline is equally dangerous. Local risk depends on the type of boundary, the distance to active faults or volcanoes, building standards, and exposure to tsunamis. The name describes a broad geologic pattern rather than one single feature.