The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where large numbers of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. About 90% of the world's earthquakes and 80% of the largest earthquakes happen along this Ring of Fire due to the movement of tectonic plates underneath the Earth's surface. Some of the largest earthquakes that have occurred along the Ring of Fire include the 2004 Sumatra earthquake that was magnitude 9.1 and caused over 200,000 casualties and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake off the coast of Japan which was magnitude 9.0 and resulted in over 15,000 casualties.