© The Right PerspectiveIs California next?
California may be the next in line for a devastating earthquake, based on a recent history of massive geological activity and other naturally-occurring indicators.
Quakes in one part of the world help to trigger seismic events thousands of miles away, sometimes even months later. Hours after Japan was struck by a devastating 9.1 magnitude earthquake last Friday,
a volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted, for example.
The Japanese quake is only the latest in a string of massive geological activity. Working backward, a line of large earthquakes taking place over the last 18 months can be drawn. On February 21, New Zealand suffered its worst natural disaster for 80 years when
a 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch, killing more than 200 people and causing much devastation. The same area was
already weakened by a 7.0 quake that struck a few months before on September 3, 2010.
© The Right PerspectiveChile has recently been hit by massive quakes
Across the Pacific, Chile was stuck with a
6.8 earthquake on February 11, sending thousands into the streets but causing little damage. Almost exactly a year earlier
on February 27, 2010, the country was hit with a massive 8.8 quake which lasted more than 3 minutes and ranked as the sixth largest quake ever recorded at the time. That earthquake triggered a tsunami, which destroyed several coastal towns in south-central Chile and damaged the port at Talcahuano.
Exactly a month before, Haiti was
leveled by a 7.0 quake on January 27, 2010. Inadequate building design in the country killed an estimated 316,000 people, injured 300,000 and made 1,000,000 homeless.