Southeast Asia sees increasing geological activities recently

Countries and regions in southeast Asia see an increase in geological activities recently, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck Saturday off the southern Philippine coast, prompting many villagers to flee their homes in panic around midnight after Philippine authorities issued a tsunami warning. The quake struck at a depth of 32 kilometers (about 20 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially said that based on the magnitude and location, it expected tsunami waves to hit the southern Philippines and parts of Indonesia, Palau and Malaysia, but the center later dropped its tsunami warning.

Along with the Philippine's earthquake, Indonesia's Marapi Volcano also erupted on Sunday, spewing volcanic ash as high as 3,000 meters into the air, according to the national disaster management agency BNPB. Local officials said that 11 climbers were killed and 12 more are still missing after the eruption.

Indonesia has 127 active volcanoes, including the 2,891-meter Mount Marapi which just erupted. Mount Marapi, which is currently on the second alert level of Indonesia's four-step warning scale, is among the most active volcanoes on Sumatra.

As a strong geomagnetic storm just hit the earth, many are guessing if the storm is related to the geological activities. In fact, the geomagnetic storm is a phenomenon brought by the sun, and geological activities are changes caused by the activity of the plates, which is a natural phenomenon of seismic waves caused by the rapid release of energy from the earth's crust. Therefore, these two phenomena are not related.

Most of the countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Philippines, are sitting on the Pacific's so-called "Ring of Fire", which is a path along the Pacific Ocean characterized by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. The reason why these areas along the Ring of Fire have volcanoes and earthquakes is because of the movements of tectonic plates in the area.

(With input from Reuters)