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Ring of fire: the five non-Japan nuclear sites in quake zone

Responsible for 90 percent of the world's earthquakes, the "ring of fire" stretches from Australia to Russia around to Alaska and America's West Coast and down to Chile in South America. Here are the five non-Japanese plants in the world's most active earthquake zone.

3. San Clemente, Calif.

o44/ZUMA Press/Newscom/File
A pool of water covers the opening for the reactor vessel inside the containment dome at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station south of San Clemente, Calif.

  • By Mary Helen Miller Correspondent

Two of three reactors that were built in San Clemente, Calif., are still operating. San Onofre 1, 2, and 3 began operation in 1968, 1983, and 1984. The first was shut down in 1992. San Clemente is located on the Pacific coast in Orange County. According to one nuclear expert, the San Onofre reactors were built to withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and has a 25-foot seawall to block any surge of water. A tsunami in Japan knocked out the power at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which precipitated the crisis there.

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