<P> The Chilcotin Group is a north - south range of volcanoes in southern British Columbia running parallel to the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt . The majority of the eruptions in this belt happened either 6--10 million years ago (Miocene) or 2--3 million years ago (Pliocene), although with some slightly more recent eruptions (in the Pleistocene). It is thought to have formed as a result of back - arc extension behind the Cascadia subduction zone . Volcanoes in this belt include Mount Noel, the Clisbako Caldera Complex, Lightning Peak, Black Dome Mountain, and many lava flows . </P> <P> The Anahim Volcanic Belt is a line of volcanoes stretching from just north of Vancouver Island to near Quesnel, British Columbia . These volcanoes were formed 8 to 1 million years ago, and the Nazko Cone last erupted only 7,200 years ago . The volcanoes generally get younger moving from the coast to the interior . These volcanoes are thought to have formed as a result of the North American Plate sliding westward over a small hotspot, called the Anahim hotspot . The hotspot is considered similar to the one feeding the Hawaiian Islands . The belt is defined by three large shield volcanoes (Rainbow, Ilgachuz and the Itcha Ranges) and 37 Quaternary basalt centers . </P> <P> Eruptions of basaltic to rhyolitic volcanoes and hypabyssal rocks of the Alert Bay Volcanic Belt in northern Vancouver Island are probably linked with the subducted margin flanked by the Explorer and Juan de Fuca Plates at the Cascadia subduction zone . It appears to have been active during the Pliocene and Pleistocene . However, no Holocene eruptions are known, and volcanic activity in the belt has likely ceased . </P> <P> The Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East is one of the most various and active volcanic areas in the world, with an area of 472,300 km . It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Okhotsk Sea to the west . Immediately offshore along the Pacific coast of the peninsula runs the 10,500 - m - deep Kuril - Kamchatka Trench, where rapid subduction of the Pacific Plate fuels the intense volcanism . Almost all types of volcanic activity are present, from stratovolcanoes and shield volcanoes to Hawaiian - style fissure eruptions . </P>

Why do so many earthquakes and volcanoes occur around the ring of fire