Absolutely! Volcanoes are most common near the boundaries of Earth's tectonic plates. At these plate boundaries we find almost all of our earthquakes. A dramatic example of this pattern can be seen along the edge of the Pacific Plate (which is dotted with volcanoes and lots of earthquakes), which we call the "Ring of Fire." The West coast of the U.S. is part the Ring of Fire.

Earthquakes and volcanoes along the Ring of Fire can be explained by a process called subduction. Subduction occurs when two tectonic plates collide, and one of them dives below the other into the upper mantle layer. The movement of the "diving" plate produces earthquakes.

Volcanoes occur wherever magma (liquid rock with some solid pieces) erupts onto the Earth's surface, which happens in many places around the world. In a subduction zone, for example, the plate that is "diving" into the mantle can partially melt and create magma. This magma rises through the overlying crust and erupts as a volcano.