Cuba just had a 5.6 earthquake. Why are there so many earthquakes this year? Are we heading for the end?

Normal earthquake activity is what is going on. We are are on large plates. They move on the plastic-like athenosphere. Plates get subducted. This causes earthquakes. It happens all the time.

In the past, earthquakes like this only happened every 100 years or so. I really think it’s a sign.

Because there are a lot of earthquakes every year. Nothing unusual about 2010.

Average earthquakes/year, magnitude 6 to 6.9
1980s = 134
1990s = 134
2001–2009 = 134
2010 = 48

Average earthquakes/year, magnitude 7 to 7.9
1980s = 17
1990s = 17
2001–2009 = 17
2010 = 3

Average earthquakes/year, magnitude 8 to 9.9
1980s = 1
1990s = 1
2001–2009 = 1
2010 = 1

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/eqstats.php

@ChocolateReigns I think in the past it took hundred years before we heard of a quake happening in another continent.

If it weren’t for tectonic plate movement we’d be sitting on Pangea . Things have been moving around for a long time.

An earthquake occurs approximately once every 30 seconds.

@rebbel Well that’s a good point. But we do have parallel records from different continents. Wouldn’t that show something?

The one that will be the most scary is when the New Madrid Fault moves in Missouri. It’s past due. That area is rife with pockets of methane gas. Sparks from any sort of electrical disruption will cause the whole area to go up in one big fireball, igniting most of the midwest/middle south. The aftermath will most likely be like The Road.

Yes, i guess it would, but it would also count vice versa (the not hearing about a quake on the other other continent).
And i was merely trying to be jokingly.

@rebbel Oh. On Fluther the ~ symbol usually means sarcasm, or a joke.

I am wondering when Mt. Vesuvius will erupt. I watched a documentary on it a month or so ago, and they say it erupts every 2000 years. The last time it erupted was about 2000 years ago.

@ChocolateReigns The stats I quoted are worldwide if that’s what you are asking. As for past centuries, they weren’t recorded consistently everywhere. So it’s hard to compare. Earthquakes will obviously be better known in Europe compared to Siberia.

So the following lists aren’t good for century-to-century comparison, but they are interesting (to me, at least).

Historical earthquakes (before 1901)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_earthquakes

Largest earthquakes by magnitude
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes#Largest_earthquakes_by_magnitude

Deadliest earthquakes on record
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes#Deadliest_earthquakes_on_record

@jaytkay OK, maybe it isn’t as big as I thought it was. But the ones you hear about on the news are getting closer and closer together. It’s kind of scary if you think about it.

Coincidence.

@Rarebear Weak.

@Lightning What’s weak? My answer? I would say it was concise and accurate.

It’s a sign that oil really is a lubricant for tectonic plates… we had better not take all of it.

Sorry. I’ve had really bad gas.

@escapedone7 is right: “If it weren’t for tectonic plate movement we’d be sitting on Pangea . Things have been moving around for a long time.” If anything things have calmed down significantly over time. We’ve had the same continents for a good long time.

Oh no the world is going to end in 2012!!!! I think that is a whole boatload of crap. The world isn’t going to end because our time is not up yet. I just know from that weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. And I’m guessing that the continental plates just seem to be rubbing together now.. coincidentally.

I think God is angry. Alright who didn’t sacrifice their sheep?

I don’t know, but man, is this a good song.

@Bugabear
We’re paid up on our sacrifices for the foreseeable future.

There are a lot of violent things that happen on our planet for its own survival. Earthquake, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes. All these forces trigger other things that make our planet viable.
On the other hand I could be wrong and we are all going to die. :P

“I feel the earth, move, under my feet…”

@Pandora We are all going to die.

I’m confused over what you consider ‘the end’ is going to look like. With what we know of our earth’s history and the universe a few earthquakes bunched together aren’t going to signal the end of anything on a global scale. Earthquakes often ‘bunch’ after a large one. As one section subsides or shifts, it causes tension in another section of the plate. Things need to settle. I lived in New Zealand for years and earthquakes are part of life there (as are active volcanoes)

We are more likely going to be our own undoing, not the normal natural forces that the earth has been going through for billions of years before we showed up for our tiny appearance on this stage.

The earth is currently under pressure by our overpopulation and unnatural exploitation of it’s resources. We’re more likely to be affected by lack of food, abrupt shifts in weather due to sea current changes, or civil unrest due to dwindling resources.

Of course, if you believe in some biblical ending to the earth… I’d tell you there is nothing I could say based on science and logic that would convince you not to worry about the end of the world.

@bob Not me! According to my husbands martial arts movies, I can learn to fly and fight unnatural forces. I’m going to find classes on how to be a ninja. :D

Yes, we’re heading for the end, which will be in 2012, didn’t you see the movie?

@La_chica_gomela Yay! Neutrinos will suddenly have mass. Every time the the sun and the earth point towards the galactic core. Which happens about twice a year.

Neutrinos do have mass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrinos

@Rarebear The point behind the movie was that when the earth and the sun align with the galactic core the sun’s neutrinos will gain mass and start heating up the earths core. This will in turn cause all sorts of crazy volcanic and seismic activity in which the only non poor person to survive is John Cusack and his family. And yes neutrinos do have mass but not enough to matter. Get it?

@Bugabear The point behind the movie was that when the earth and the sun align with the galactic core the sun’s neutrinos will gain mass and start heating up the earths core. This will in turn cause all sorts of crazy volcanic and seismic activity in which the only non poor person to survive is John Cusack and his family. And yes neutrinos do have mass but not enough to matter. Get it?

I get it, it all makes perfect sense. Except for one particular. Can we have Ashley Judd instead of John Cusack? I really like Ashley Judd.

TIA!

@Bugabear I know. I was just being piddly. I actually liked the movie—I thought it was a lot of fun.

@Rarebear Yeah. And pretty good CGI for it’s budget.

There are no more earthquakes now than there always are. We’re just reporting them more often.

I want the John Cusack character to be my chauffeur. I’d never have to worry about surviving a trip again.