Originally published March 16, 2010

The news has been dominated lately with reports of massive earthquakes and the terrible consequences they have had for people in a number of countries around the world. Haiti, Chile and Turkey have all been hit recently, leaving many to wonder what's behind the spate of tremors.

Although it may seem like there have been an unusual number of earthquakes as of late, Gloria Lopez, sessional lecturer and instructor for the class 'Natural Disasters' (Earth Sc 2GG3) says that isn't quite the case. According to Lopez, improvements to communications technology have allowed more people in more places to talk about what's happening around them - which means we're more likely to hear about an earthquake happening half-way around the world than we may have been in the past.

Below, Lopez explains just what earthquakes are, what causes them and where in Canada they are most likely to occur.

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