You’re lounging on the beach or just putting your head down on the hotel pillow and all of a sudden the Earth itself rumbles to life. The sand beings to shake or the walls begin to vibrate. Objects fall from the shelves, shattering on impact. Panic sets in. Not exactly what you want to deal with on vacation. An earthquake might strike anywhere at any moment, and unless you’re a canine, there’s no reliable way to predict an impending tremor. That’s why it’s important to know how seismically active your destination is. Odds are you won’t get hit with a big quake on your holiday, but it’s best not to be caught totally unaware and unprepared. So, not to necessarily dissuade you of ever going there, but here is a list of some of the more likely spots on our planet to get hit with an earthquake.
1. Tokyo, Japan
Japan’s capital city sits atop the Pacific Ring of Fire, “a tectonic plate in the Pacific Basin that is responsible for 90% of the world’s earthquakes and 81% of the world’s strongest quakes.” What’s more, in the event of a large enough quake, the citizens in Tokyo would also be in danger of encountering tsunamis, floods, fires and landslides. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 devastated the area, and if past patterns are a predictor, the region is well overdue for another big one.
