Japan sits atop deadliest section of Ring of Fire

Fault line Direction of plate movement OKHOTSK PLATE Onagawa Fire at plant Sendai: Hit by 10m tsunami EURASIAN NORTH AMERICAN PLATE PLATE Japan HOKKAIDO PACIFIC PLATE CARIBBEAN PLATE Sapporo PHILIPPINE Hawaii cocos SOUTH AMERICAN PLATE Earthquake epicentre (8.9 magnitude) » RING OF FIRE Japan sits on an arc of fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin AUSTRALIAN PLATE NAZCA PLATE Akita ANTARCTIC PLATE Niigata Fukushima Residents near plant evacuated after cooling system failure Sea Of HONSHU Japan • (East Sea) JAPAN » JAPAN QUAKE Tokyo Kyoto • Nagoya Chiba Refinery on fire Strong shaking Very strong / severe shaking Nuclear plant Kobe Osaka · Yokohama. Pacific Ocean SHIKOKU Oil refinery KYUSHÚ 200 км GRAPHIC NEWS / REUTERS / THE GLOBE AND MAIL