About 60 volcanoes in the world erupt somewhere on land every year.
Many others erupt on the ocean floor.
About 50 volcanoes have been recorded as erupting in the United States, mainly in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii, since people started keeping track of such things.
That makes the United States third in the world in volcanic activity, behind Indonesia and Japan.
Volcanoes are usually found near tectonic plates that are diverging or converging.
The Pacific Ring of Fire is a good example an area with volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates coming together.
The Ring of Fire has about 452 of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes.
