Two huge earthquakes have recently struck in both Haiti and Chile. Will there be more in the near future?

There are really two questions here. Are the quakes correlated, and will there be more? The answer to both questions is maybe, but not likely.

First, as others have mentioned, earthquakes occur when two or more tectonic plates collide and rub against each other. These plates fit together like a world-wide jigsaw puzzle, and move around due to convection currents in the molten portion of the earth (called the mantle) beneath the plates. Usually the movement is imperceptible, except when a lot of motion occurs in a short amount of time, resulting in an earthquake.

The earthquake in Chile occurred from movement of the Nazca Plate against the South American Plate, and the earthquake in Haiti occurred from movement of the Caribbean Plate against the North American Plate. The plates in question, the Nazca and the Caribbean, don't share enough of a boundary for there to be much influence on adjacent plates. Also, the epicenters are about 4,000 miles apart.It would likely take a much larger quake for any adjacent effects to be caused along that distance.

Now for the second part. In looking at large magnitude quakes that have occurred in the last 100 years or so, they are not evenly spaced, but some scientists think that the most powerful quakes, like the one responsible for the 2004 tsunami, may contribute to a "global release of built-up tectonic stress". A near-future repercussion of the Chilean quake may be felt if a new fracture occurs in the Nazca Plate.

This can happen months after the initial quake, but if it will happen in this case remains to be seen. So, again the answer is maybe, but not likely, because these recent quakes probably weren't large enough to trigger other events, except for associated aftershocks.

You forgot to mention the one in Japan the day before the one in Chile. Thousands of earthquakes happen every day. Regardless of correlation between Haiti and Chile, more will come.It's more likely the Japan and Chile quakes can be correlated as they are both on the Pacific rim.

The US Geological Service (see link below) has a wealth of information about earthquakes around the world.

Frist do not kill me I do no believe in Cabala The Cabala (Kabalah) predicts a big one a huge one in LA for 2010 I know it has no scientific nor reasonable origin but so far so good I love to track earthquakes at iris.edu See also youtube.com/watch?v=w6fUsH1Rwm4 Regards Sergio.

The only correlation I find between Haiti and Chile earthquakes, is that both were caused by "the release of energy caused by the friction between the planet's tectonic plates. " As long as the tectonic plates both in the pacific ring of fire and in the Atlantic keeps moving thereby causing friction, there will always be an earthquake happening in the not too distant future. The only sensible way to minimize earthquake fatalities and damage is just to be prepared always and implement strict building codes.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.