Hot on the heels of an earthquake in Japan about 6 hours ago, another earthquake happened half way around the world in Chile.

It is quite interesting that an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 in Japan is followed by an 8.3 magnitude earthquake in Chile a few hours after. Is it possible that one earthquake triggered the other?

According to National Geographic, it can. While this article does say that earthquakes can occur in neighbouring fault lines, Chile and Japan happen to be quite far away from each other. A quick search for fault lines (and here), reveals that Okinawa sits on the Eurasian and Pacific plate while Chile is only two plates away, sitting on the Nazcan and South American plates. As the Pacific and Nazcan plate are connected, a shift in one can affect a shift in the other.

Rising sea levels, global warming, weather patterns are all related to each other. According to a theory by Andrea Thompson on the site Live Science, earthquakes could be caused by global warming.

That article states that melting ice reduces weight and pressure on parts of the tectonic plates which are then rise more easily.

they could alter the stresses and forces fighting for balance in the ground under our feet

Is our planet then on an almost irreversible path to disaster? We talk about reducing carbon emissions to reduce the greenhouse gases. Yet perhaps, we have already set into motion the recipe for our demise.

And this is where I allow my active imagination to take flight.

The Mayan calendar which ends at  the year 2012 comes to mind when I think of all these natural disasters.

Perhaps man did live once before our time. Perhaps these early humans could predict that a cycle happens on this planet every so often. After all, we hear legends of Atlantis, a city being swallowed up by the oceans. Could it be that in 2012, much of this planet will be swallowed up by oceans and become the new Atlantis legend?