First Zone. This includes the vast array of mountain chains, peninsulas, and bands of islands which encircle the Pacific Ocean with a belt of burning mountains. Within it occur, in the New World: (1) the Andes mountains, with three of the most remarkable series of volcanoes—those of Chili, Bolivia, and Ecuador—separated by hundreds of miles; (2) the volcanic group of Central America; (3) the series of Mexico; (4) the series of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains; (5) the group of Alaska; and (6) the long series of the Aleutian Islands.
In the Old World are: (1) the series of Kamchatka and the Kurile Islands; (2) the group of Japan; (3) the series south of Japan, including Formosa, the Philippine and the Molucca Islands; and (4) the Australian series, including New Guinea, New Britain, New Hebrides, and New Zealand. In this vast zone there are not less than four hundred volcanoes, one hundred and seventy of which are still active.
Second Zone. This contains the belt of broken lands and inland seas, which extending round the globe, separates the northern from the southern continents, and intersects the first zone, in the equatorial regions, nearly at right angles.
In it are: (1) the volcanic regions of Central America and Mexico, and the series of the Lesser Antilles; (2) the groups of the Azores and Canary islands (3) the Mediterranean islands and peninsulas, including all the active volcanoes of Europe; (4) Asia Minor with numerous extinct volcanoes; (5) the shores of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and the two Indias, rich in traces of volcanic action; (6) the East Indian Archipelago with hundreds of burning mountains; and (7) the Friendly Islands and other volcanic groups of the central Pacific.
In this zone there are no less than one hundred and sixty volcanoes, so that the two volcanic zones together contain five hundred and sixty, or five-sixths of all known.
Isolated Volcanoes. The volcanoes not included in these two great zones are isolated, in the midst of the oceans, or in the broken polar lands. The most noted are the Hawaiian Island group, in the Pacific; Bourbon and Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean; Cape Verde Islands, Ascension, St. Helena, and Tristan da Cunha, in the Atlantic; Iceland and Jan Mayen, in the Arctic Ocean; and Erebus and Terror, in Antarctic.
MOST NOTED VOLCANOES
| Name | Location | Height (feet) |
|---|---|---|
| Altar | Ecuador | 17,710 |
| Antisana | Ecuador | 19,335 |
| Asosan | Japan | 5,630 |
| Cayambi | Ecuador | 19,255 |
| Chimborazo | Ecuador | 21,424 |
| Copiapo | Chile | 19,700 |
| Cotocachi | Ecuador | 16,300 |
| Cotopaxi | Ecuador | 18,880 |
| Demavend | Persia | 18,500 |
| Etna | Sicily | 9,652 |
| Fujiyama | Japan | 12,390 |
| Hecla | Iceland | 5,110 |
| Hood, Mt. | Oregon | 11,225 |
| Iztaccihuati | Mexico | 16,076 |
| Kirishima-yama | Japan | 5,530 |
| Llullaillac | Chile | 21,000 |
| Maipo | Chile | 17,670 |
| Mauna Kea | Hawaii | 13,953 |
| Mauna Loa | Hawaii | 13,600 |
| Misti | Peru | 20,015 |
| Nevado de Colima | Mexico | 14,210 |
| Orizaba | Mexico | 18,310 |
| Pelée | Martinique, W. I. | 4,300 |
| Pichincha | Ecuador | 15,918 |
| Pico, Peak of | Azores | 7,013 |
| Popocatepetl | Mexico | 17,748 |
| Ruiz | Colombia | 17,388 |
| Sahama | Peru | 23,000 |
| Sangai | Ecuador | 17,459 |
| San Jose | Chile | 20,020 |
| St. Elias, Mt. | Alaska | 18,024 |
| St. Helena, Mt. | United States | 10,000 |
| Stromboli | Lipari Islands | 3,090 |
| Tahiti, Peak of | Friendly Islands | 7,400 |
| Teneriffe | Canary Islands | 12,000 |
| Tolima | Columbia | 18,069 |
| Toluco | Mexico | 14,950 |
| Tunguragua | Ecuador | 16,690 |
| Vesuvius | Italy | 4,260 |
EARTHQUAKES
Earthquakes are movements of the earth’s crust, varying in intensity from a slight tremor or shaking of the ground to the most violent convulsions causing enormous destruction over wide areas.