Mar 9 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Yesterday morning at 4:23 am a major earthquake which registered 6.0, hit Turkey, killing at least 57 people. Later in the day, at 6:29 local time, another earthquake, this time a 4.4, shook the Hawaiian Islands. The quake was 19.3 miles deep, and the epicenter was around 13 miles southwest of the coastal region of Laupahoehoe, and 189 miles east of Honolulu. It was 20 miles northeast of Hilo. It is considered to be a light quake, and no injuries or damages have been reported. Less than two weeks ago, Hawaii was hit by a small tsunami which was caused by an earthquake in Chile. Although there was no reported injuries in either event, they were both pretty scary for the residents.

This small quake struck within hours of a larger 6.0 earthquake which hit Turkey and killed 57 people. This quake hit in the Elazig Province. On February 27, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit off the coast of Chile, and spawned the tsunami warnings that reached Hawaii and 52 other countries. There were originally 723 confirmed dead in that quake but recent numbers are much less, with many more missing.

Before this event, yet another quake struck Haiti. This was by far the most devastating of the recent rash of earthquakes which seems to have broken out with no end in sight. An estimated 230,000 people were killed in this quake, and over a million are left homeless, much of the country destroyed. American troops have been in Haiti helping the survivors get shelter, food and water, and maintaining law, but are now beginning to pull out. This announcement came after the Turkey earthquake hit, and the US says that this does not mean they are no longer going to help Haiti, they are just having to change tactics.

With all of these quakes, there have been significant results in the entire world. The earth was knocked 3 inches off of it’s axis, tsunamis caused floods, and cities of the earth have literally moved several feet to the west. Chile’s massive quake caused the city of Concepcion to move at least 10 feet to the west, according to scientists at Ohio State University, and the University of Hawaii. The capital of Chile, Santiago moved at least a foot to the west, and cities as far as Buenos Aires, Argentina were moved by this quake.