A quick glance at the new Earthquake site (I hesitate to say improved...) shows the usual suspects still slipping and sliding away. The rim of the Pacific dominates the scene, as is to be expected with the encroaching continents gradually stuffing away the basaltic crust of Earth's largest ocean. The mid-ocean ridges, while mostly thought of as producing the new crust that is moving the plates around, still has lots of transform/strike-slip faults that offset the ridges with plenty of quakes themselves.
We are also reminded that while Italy is part of Europe it wasn't always. The forces gradually shrinking the Mediterranean Sea are also still pushing Italy, Spain, Greece and southeastern Asia northward and the result of that movement: earthquakes. And, while the winter olympics could be disrupted by human conflicts the internal issues of the earth itself formed those mountains and could shake them up again at any time. Hang on!
The Central Va. quake zone has been quiet for a month or so - and let's hope it stays that way. The walls of our new high school are rising and we don't need any new shakes to cause new problems. But...let's face it, the earth doesn't care and it's going to keep doing what it does...for several billion more years. Get out and enjoy your short ride on the big planet, shaky though it may be.
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