This earthquake swarm ought to feed the idea, held by some geophysicists, that large quakes and trigger other quakes. It's a fairly easy connection to make when the ruptures are minutes/hours apart and the epicenters next door to each other. It's a harder sell when you try to connect all the large quakes that have happened in that part of the world over the last few weeks (including the deadly tsunamigenic quake slammed Pago Pago and Western Samoa a little more than a week ago).
But there might be some who will try. The problem is that there are earthquakes popping off all over the planet all the time. So if any are triggering others far away, it's awfully hard to first rule out coincidence, especially since we have no idea how exactly one quake can trigger another (i.e., we lack a "mechanism," although fault strength is a possible factor).
As for those readers out there who insist on taking all this shaking and quaking as the harbinger of something bigger and more catastrophic about to happen, yes, you're right: The world is coming to an end. So, um, can I have your car? I only ask because, you know, you won't be needing it for much longer. Thanks and have a happy Armageddon!
As for me, my personal theory is that Mothra is about to emerge from the sea, fly to Japan and destroy Tokyo (again, as it did in all those now-ancient Japanese monster movies).
Linguistic Watch
OK, why is the global coastal event still in modelspace? "Climate report wants coastal residents" says a report out of Australia. Oh, and warns to alert to such things that as sea levels come up, look for government to grab powers to confiscate and redistribute land.
---
Meantime, the Discovery Channel page "South Pacific Quake Swarm - Armageddon" may be a tad early. Me a doomster? You mean because we have 1,151 days and that's assuming we make it past 11/11/2011 which is only 745 days out. But who's counting, right?
