Step 1 : Introduction to the question "5. Vanuatu experiences frequent earthquakes, both from volcanic activity and from the interaction of two colliding tectonic plates. Vanuatu lies near the boundary between which two plates?"
...1. Eurasian and Filipino 2. Australia and Pacific 3. North American and Nazca 4. South American and Indian Being near the boundary of the Australia and Pacific plates, Vanuatu is part of the "Ring of Fire", the zone around the rim of the Pacific Ocean which includes most of the world's active volcanoes, and which experiences many earthquakes. The islands of Vanuatu are volcanic in origin, as might be expected from their location, with surrounding coral reefs. Seismic activity periodically causes minor earthquakes on a number of the islands. Vanuatu has 11 volcanoes which have erupted during the 20th and early 21st centuries. Severe earthquakes are a relatively frequent event, and have serious economic consequences for the country. An earthquake in 1999, and a subsequent tsunami, caused major damage to the island of Pentecoste, and left several thousand people homeless. Another earthquake in 2002, also followed by a tsunami, destroyed large portions of Port Vila, the nation's capital. A magnitude 7.6 shock that hit on 7 October 2009 was reclassified as a foreshock when it was followed by one of magnitude 7.8 15 minutes later; a further 5 shocks over 6.0 and 12 shocks over 5.0 occurred during the next 12 hours.
