Ok so I have been known to be a bit on the paranoid side but I can't help but wonder about this:

- Massive snow storms blanket as much as 4 feet of snow up and down the east coast of the US - many places getting a decade's worth of snow in just one storm

- Massive earthquakes in Haiti and Chile

- Unusual high/low temperatures in places

- More severe tsunamis and hurricanes than in ever before

Could this be the precursor to something even more devastating to come?

DW and I had a conversation about the apparent increase in geologic activity. Until recently, I attributed it to a more complete and immediate availability of information. I'm not so sure anymore. The "ring of fire" does seem to be more active. So maybe the earth is getting ready to make some major shifts of the land masses. While not immune from the shaking, we are in a relatively stable geologic area. I'm more concerned about what the politicians are going to do to us.
The snow; not so much. We here in the east can figure on an exceptionally snowy winter every 8-10 years. I've been plowing snow for nearly 20 years. This past summer was cool and wet just like it was in '95 and '02. Heavy winter snows seem to follow a cool wet summer. If the pattern that I've come to notice follows through again, I expect to see a hot dry summer for '10. I'll be sure to have my rainwater system in top shape this spring to catch and store all the rainwater I can.

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I know scientists say that the earth is overdue for a shift of the magnetic poles. Maybe it has something to do with this weather and geologic activity.

Actually I think all of this snow is just because the Earth is in a natural cooling cycle. I guess we will find out.

As far as volcanos and that stuff goes, throughout the history of the Earth, volcanic areas have become active and then gone dormant. Different areas are just becoming active. I am not reading any of this into anything. We need to prep for anything that can come our way, not just prepare for one thing and then get blindsided by another.

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6-4-magnitude quake hits southern Taiwan
March 3, 2010 7:48 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked southern Taiwan Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of damage, injuries or deaths.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/03/taiwan.quake/index.html?hpt=T2

Looks like Quake (rather appropriate user name) beat me to the punch with info on the Taiwan earthquake. In fact Quake posted this very quickly...only ten minutes after it was posted on CNN.com. Nice job on that one.

In any event, here are some updates:

Aftershocks ripple through Taiwan

(CNN) -- Aftershocks rattled southern Taiwan in the hours after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook the island, but left it relatively unscathed.

Thursday morning's quake was followed by more than 15 aftershocks, the largest reaching 4.8.

Taiwan's interior ministry reported 12 minor injuries -- nine in Kaohsiung county, two in Jia Yi county and one in Tainan county.

The quake struck about 8:20 a.m. (7:20 p.m. Wednesday ET) in a mountainous region about 25 miles northwest of Taitung, on the southeast coast, and 40 miles east of Tainan and Kaohsiung on the southwest coast.

The region includes Taiwan's Maolin National Scenic Area and is still recovering from a direct hit by Typhoon Morakot that killed hundreds in August. The typhoon dumped more than two feet of rain, causing serious mudslides in the south, including one that buried the village of Shiao Lin under 50 feet of mud.

Shuo Hong, an orthopedic surgeon in Taipei, about 155 miles away from the epicenter, felt the earthquake during a meeting at a hospital. "We were debating whether or not to run for shelter, but the hospital is safe," he said "It is built to resist a 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

"It was shaking for about 20 to 30 seconds, shaking more than what we expected," Hong said.

The Taiwan Ministry of Interior and the National Fire Agency said electricity was cut off in parts of Kaohsiung county, Jia Yi city and Jia Yi county. Taiwan's official news agency reported that a fire broke out in Jia Yi city.

Residents in southern Taiwan reported cracks in some buildings and major bridges. Train service was also disrupted in some areas, Taiwanese media reported.

Two small hotels near the epicenter that were contacted by CNN reported no damage, though the buildings shook for a few seconds during the quake.

Albert Yu, communications manager of the humanitarian organization World Vision, told CNN he was about half-way through a 90-minute trip via high-speed train from Taipei to Tainan when the quake struck. Passengers did not feel the quake, he said, but operators stopped the train and announced what had happened before inspecting the tracks for stability.

During the delay, Yu said people were calm, "opening laptops ... and chatting with people around them."

Yu said World Vision "has already been on high alert responding to the quakes in Haiti and Chile, so we're closely monitoring reports in the earthquake in southern Taiwan."

Residents in Taipei, the capital, also felt the shaking.

Earthquakes are far from uncommon on the nearly 14,000-square-mile island -- about the size of the U.S. states of Maryland and Delaware combined -- which sits across the juncture of the Eurasian and Philippine tectonic plates.

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the same general region in December. The island took a double hit on December 26, 2006, when earthquakes of 7.1 and 6.9 magnitude hit eight minutes apart.

The largest recorded quake to strike Taiwan was an 8.0-magnitude quake in 1920, but the worst earthquake disaster stemmed from a 7.1-magnitude quake in 1935 that killed more than 3,200 people -- followed by a 6.5-magnitude quake that killed more than 2,700 people three months later.

More recently, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,400 people in 1999.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/04/taiwan.earthquake/index.html?hpt=T2

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Here is the latest major earthquake to strike:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/08/turkey.earthquake/index.html?hpt=T2

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- A pre-dawn earthquake collapsed homes and killed more than 50 people in a mountainous region of southeastern Turkey Monday, government officials said.

About 71 others were injured when the earthquake struck at 4:32 a.m., according to officials. The U.S. Geological Survey registered the quake at magnitude 5.9, while the Turkish earthquake monitoring center listed it as a 6.0.

The quake struck in Elazig province, with the village of Okcular the worst hit, according to Ozcan Yalcin, the press secretary for the province's governor. Most of the mud brick homes in the village were destroyed, he said. Villagers had buried 15 of the people that died, he added.

"The people are sad but they are calm," Yalcin said. "They lost relatives and loved ones, they are crying, but all of their needs are being met by the state."

The quake killed 51 people, the office of the Prime Minister and Crisis Center in Elazig province said. The death toll revises an earlier report by Turkey Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek that at least 57 people had died. There was no further detail on the discrepancy.

Dozens of aftershocks, ranging up to magnitude 5.5, shook the region in the hours after the quake.

"According to the information that we got from the technical teams on the ground, there shouldn't be anyone left in the rubble by now. But the search and rescue operations are continuing," said the deputy governor of Elazig, Mehmet Ali Saglam.

"Most of the houses that were demolished in the villages are not cement houses. ... Other buildings, such as schools, were not destroyed," the deputy governor said.

"The Red Crescent is there. They are giving all kinds of help to the people. They are setting up tents. The weather is cloudy, 8 to 10 degrees Celsius (46 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit)."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on television said: "Teams from the state mass housing project have also been sent to the area to study how to rebuild the area in different methods."

Monday's quake occurred near the meeting point of two major fault lines, geologists said.

The Northern Anatolian Fault and East Anatolian Fault juxtapose each other, in an area where other fault lines exist, said Okan Tuysuz, a professor of geology at Istanbul Technical University.

"The Anatolian plate, which is surrounded by these two different fault systems, moves every year 2.5 centimeters westwards," Tuysuz said. "And the movement of the Anatolian plate westwards creates different fault systems in this area. And the earthquake occurred in such a complex geological environment."

Turkey is periodically pummeled by deadly earthquakes. In 1999, two powerful earthquakes hit heavily populated areas near Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, killing at least 20,000 people.