What's Up With Earthquakes?

As repeats go, once is a coincidence, twice is an anomaly and three or more a pattern.

It won't be long now before we begin to get wind of public grumblings, concern, about the recent spate of earthquakes all around the globe.

The Tea Partiers will blame it all on Obama, the Dems will hold hearings, and the sensationalists in the media will cry the, "sky is falling". Never mind that the sky appears to be acting just fine. It's the earth under our feet that's behaving badly.

The Christianists/Fundamentalists/Creationists will shout that, as a warning, God, the architect, is showing His power by shaking up his Creation with a phenomenon of Nature, His general contractor of choice to build the Creation He designed. Quite a nice metaphor actually, but one is on shaky ground when taking it literally.

Speaking as an armchair scientist it's tempting to wonder if these events are actually connected in some way. Are the violent shakings transmitted through the earth's mantle and, if so, are they sufficient to set off additional quakes in other already unstable locations?

Current administrations all around the planet will issue public statements that all is well, so as to calm the nerves of the public which is itself in a constantly unstable state, ready to shake, rattle and roll.

Homeland Security will claim that they are always at the ready should some isolated(?) act of_________(God, Nature; fill in the blank) spoil every one's day.

Serious scientists will check their theories and admit yet again to their inability to predict earthquakes. They will caution society in general about the dangers of living in locations of known faults. What is still and always true in all aspects of real estate, the three most important factors to consider are: location, location, location.

But it won't be long before humans rebuild on the same shifting sands.

In the meantime, thousands of lives are lost, dislocated and scarred for life, at least emotionally if not physically. If there's a need to thin out the herd it's clear we don't need wars. Nature and/or God will provide if we're patient.

When will we ever learn?

Leanderthal