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> But there has been a significant increase in both earthquakes and major earthquakes over the last few decades, and it is possibly connected. Unrelated to the

> But there has been a significant increase in both earthquakes and major earthquakes over the last few decades, and it is possibly connected. Unrelated to the improvements in seismological monitoring, no doubt.

candre717 16y ago
Not to mention a few of those countries that have recently been devastated by earthquakes are in regions susceptible to quakes - Japan, New Zealand, even Haiti. Japan, for example, has had a long history of dealing with quakes. What's striking is the sheer devastation and magnitude of the recent catastrophes, partly because we sometimes forget, that despite our technology and achievements, nature is nobody's pet or mother.
dexen 16y ago
You forgot about the Moon [1] which causes sizeable tidal forces. ---- [1] http://earthsky.org/tonight/high-tide-alert-closest-full-moon-of-2011-on-march-19 http://earthsky.org/tonight/high-tide-alert-closest-full-moo...
- btilly 16y ago
  That link discusses this theory at http://earthsky.org/earth/did-a-supermoon-cause-the-march-11-earthquake-in-japan http://earthsky.org/earth/did-a-supermoon-cause-the-march-11.... The td;lr version is "no because the earthquake didn't happen at a point with large tidal stresses." More generically the Moon's orbit has not changed appreciably in a long time. The orbit is elliptical. And periodically that lines up with the Sun-Earth axis. This fact has not changed in millennia, let alone in the last 30 years.
btilly 16y ago
Unrelated to the improvements in seismological monitoring, no doubt. I'm quite sure that the number of major earthquakes we are aware of has nothing to do with improvements of seismological monitoring. Next time please read the original article before replying with an excess of snark. Because they raised the specific issue that you are talking about and then brought up major earthquakes as well. Given the title I expected it to be much worse than it was.

candre717 16y ago

Not to mention a few of those countries that have recently been devastated by earthquakes are in regions susceptible to quakes - Japan, New Zealand, even Haiti. Japan, for example, has had a long history of dealing with quakes. What's striking is the sheer devastation and magnitude of the recent catastrophes, partly because we sometimes forget, that despite our technology and achievements, nature is nobody's pet or mother.

dexen 16y ago

You forgot about the Moon [1] which causes sizeable tidal forces. ---- [1] http://earthsky.org/tonight/high-tide-alert-closest-full-moon-of-2011-on-march-19 http://earthsky.org/tonight/high-tide-alert-closest-full-moo...

btilly 16y ago
That link discusses this theory at http://earthsky.org/earth/did-a-supermoon-cause-the-march-11-earthquake-in-japan http://earthsky.org/earth/did-a-supermoon-cause-the-march-11.... The td;lr version is "no because the earthquake didn't happen at a point with large tidal stresses." More generically the Moon's orbit has not changed appreciably in a long time. The orbit is elliptical. And periodically that lines up with the Sun-Earth axis. This fact has not changed in millennia, let alone in the last 30 years.

btilly 16y ago

Unrelated to the improvements in seismological monitoring, no doubt. I'm quite sure that the number of major earthquakes we are aware of has nothing to do with improvements of seismological monitoring. Next time please read the original article before replying with an excess of snark. Because they raised the specific issue that you are talking about and then brought up major earthquakes as well. Given the title I expected it to be much worse than it was.