Several earthquakes of significant strength have struck around the infamous Pacific Ring of Fire over the last few days, a not uncommon occurrence in a region prone to temblors.

First was the magnitude-8.6 earthquake that struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra yesterday (April 11), spurring tsunami warnings and watches across the Indian Ocean basin that were later cancelled. Only a modest uptick in ocean surface heights were detected by buoys, unlike in the 2004 Indian Ocean disaster that generated a massive tsunami that killed thousands. The more recent earthquake was a different type of earthquake than the 2004 event and did not result in a large upward displacement of the ocean floor, which is typically what triggers tsunami.

Later in the day came a magnitude 6.5 earthquake on the Pacific coast of Michoacan, Mexico. It did not result in any tsunami warnings. It came a couple weeks after a magnitude 7.4 struck Oaxaca, Mexico, causing residents to evacuate buildings and causing some structural damage and minor injuries.

Later in the day, a 5.9 earthquake ruptured off the coast of Oregon.

In the wee hours of this morning, a 6.9 earthquake struck in the Gulf of California.

While it may seem unusual that all these earthquake would pop in such a short amount of time, it's not a rarity along the Pacific Ocean edges. All of these spots are active earthquake zones and are part of the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire . Around this area, the Pacific tectonic plate is colliding with other plates in a constant battle that send the plate boundaries shifting.

While the whopping 8.6 magnitude earthquake off Indonesia was somewhat unusual, it is not an unheard of event, the U.S. Geological Survey told OurAmazingPlanet yesterday.

Ok, say I'm nut's. (I can take it.)
I can feel earthquakes when I'm in bed. I feel them as vibrations sometimes very light sometimes strong. At first I thought that this was caused by trucks or cars passing by but not in the middle of the night. And after a night when they are felt, there has been an earthquake some where. The first ones that I felt were in Missouri somewhere. The real strong ones were here in Texas a while back. The only reason why that I can think of is that when I had the foundation of my house repaired. The corner of my bedroom was sunk really low. To raise it back up they had to sink some deep piers in that corner. My bed sits right on top of that corner. I am a light sleeper and last night I woke feeling the faint vibrations that I have come to recognize. They lasted for 2-3 mins and stop or pause and start again.
Am I nut's or what ?

there was a 5.1 near San Antonio a few months ago... i have been reading where the government is saying it is because of fracking and loss of natural gas being welled... there are some quakes in OK, but nothing to really worry about till the big one hits in the madrid fault zone, which may be soon...

We had 2 more 5.9's off the coast (oregon) today.

The intensity and frequency are picking up,
normally we average 1 earthquake a year that is a 8 or above.

your not nuts alleoops, they wake me up no matter where they happen.

Yea, that's the big one...

Not only fracking but big oil as well, you will see more earthquakes in this region in the coming years and they will become more significant as the years and fracking and drilling continue.