A Year of earthquakes
This photo was taken from the Hotel Montana, a popular four-star tourist hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. late in the afternoon of January 12, 2010.
The person taking this photo stepped out onto balcony, snapped the picture and emailed it back to the office in the U.S. A few minutes later the earthquake struck and the Hotel Montana collapsed taking the lives of hundreds of guests, including the taker of this photo.
It appears that the number of major earthquakes are on the increase lately. But according to the U.S. Geological Survey this is not so. It just seems that way.
They claim earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant throughout this century and, according to their records, have actually decreased in recent years.
What has changed is the number of people living in living in cities. Urban migration are forcing people to live in marginal areas such as hillsides, flood plains, along fault lines, or in poorly constructed buildings.
Which means the number of people being affected by earthquakes and other natural disasters is on the increase.
