Earth Updates-2010

[gscraig]

Experts say there is nothing unusual about the latest spate of earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and now Turkey, but their devastating effects illustrate how increased construction up and down the world's fault lines can translate into massive casualties.

And seismologists say that although one powerful quake can conceivably make others slightly more likely elsewhere, the string of quakes is probably just coincidence

RIGHT!
The biggest difference is that they are hitting population centers now.

Let's look further....
These are the earthquake comparisons for the 1st quarters of 2009 and 2010.

[2009 Earthquakes 1st Quarter

32 total quakes
26 quakes 6-6.9 magnitude
06 quakes 7-7.9 magnitude
00 quakes 8+
1,783 deaths for the year of 2009

*2010 Earthquakes 1st Quarter

44 total quakes
40 quakes 6-6.9 magnitude
03 quakes 7-7.9 magnitude (however, I counted 13 via another seismic sight)
02 quakes 8+ magnitude
223, 297 deaths for the year of 2010 (not including uncomfirmed)

*Please keep in mind, we are still in the first quarter of 2010