The recent series of earthquakes has raised concerns that something bigger is going on. That we might be building to some big event.

In these sorts of situations it is helpful to hear from reliable experts in the field:

http://scienceblogs.com/highlyallochthonous/2010/04/the_seismic_non-pocalypse.php

Very good article. It really put things into perspective. I wonder what other correlations could be found between the other high-energy-release years?

-Blast

That's an interesting article. Thanks for the link!

I also hear one expert on public radio comment that in most years the major earthquakes occur mostly in the ocean where there's no population to feel the effect. This year's earthquakes have been near or in heavily populated areas. Henc ethe greater awareness becasue of media reporting.

I don't think the proximity of quakes in or near populated areas is as much of an issue as the effect a distant quake could have on highly populated areas. Conceivably, a huge quake in the middle of the ocean could trigger a massive tsunami. The Canary Island threat is a large ocean away from NYC, but there are those who think it could devastate our eastern seaboard.

The big deal about a severe earthquake is whether or not I'm near it.

If it happens three thousand miles away, it's an energy release. If it happens here, it's a disaster.

Sue

There are those who believe in zombies too.

The problem with these kind of stories is that the "experts" don't really know much more about when these kind of events might happen or how severe they might be than the average person does.

Could be worth a read. A series of 30-50 foot waves washing over the eastern shores of the Americas would certainly make the news.

http://www.amfearliathmor.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/La_Palma.pdf

Death tolls would easily be in the Millions.

Recent geological discoveries such as Susan cites are hardly equivalent to belief in zombies.

The plate tectonic theory didn't come together until the 1960s. Yellowstone was not understood to be an active, ever-shifting caldera until the 1970s. California's San Andreas fault is still not entirely understood or predictable with any precision -- yet California building codes are revised as ever-greater potential for enormous ground motion due to that fault and others is discovered.

It was not until the 1990s that the Pacific Northwest was found to be vulnerable to subduction plate earthquakes 9.0 or greater. That discovery came when someone pieced together Puget Sound sediment, 300-year old, dated Japanese accounts of a tsunami and Indian legends that had been passed down through generations.

Europe wasn't concerned about Iceland's volcanoes until last week.

The Canary Island sequence of events and other landslide-generated tsunamis are similarly recent discoveries. Most geologic history far, far precedes recorded history. That these events occur in a geologic time-frame that does not make precise predictions possible or the events probable in our relatively puny individual lifespans is no reason to belittle their significant threat. We know for certain that cataclysmic events are going to occur in the future. One may occur next month, next year or 10,000 years from now. Exactly when, we don't know. There may never be an i-Phone app for that.

Seems the more we know, the more we know we don't know much relative to all that there is to know. What's the verdict on coffee this week? Good or bad for us?

As to the original post in this thread -- very interesting article, thanks for the link.

Seabed debris has been found several thousand feet up the sides of volcanoes in Hawaii. It got there somehow...

Some authorities suggest that global warming increases earthquake activity.
The partial melting of polar ice, and consequent rise in sea levels, alters the distribution of weight on the earths crust, and increases earthquakes, as polar regions rise (having been relieved of some weight) and ocean areas sink (owing to the greater weight of sea water)