Don Blakeman, a USGS geophysicist, said the California quake had nothing to do with the quake that devastated Turkey.
Saturday's quake occurred along the Longmenshan fault line, which was also the source the 2008 quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
One notable missing quake on the list is the 2010 Haiti quake which killed more people than all the most powerful quakes combined.
So did the Samoan quake help to trigger the Indonesian quake?
That quake generated a 33-foot (10-meter) tsunami wave, and some scientists believe the quake may have triggered the eruption of Mount Fuji 49 days later, Morris said.
The village of some 250 people lost four of their own during the quake - two of whom were in the neighboring county of Beichuan, which was leveled by the quake.
At the time of Tuesday's quake, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti was meeting with the head of the civil protection agency and the governor of the region to discuss the previous quake.
The Australian plate borders the Pacific plate to the East (the Samoan quake occurred along this boundary), while on the Western side, it borders the Eurasian plate (where the Indonesia quake occurred).
He concluded that New York can expect a magnitude 5 quake once every century, a magnitude 6 quake every 670 years and a magnitude 7 quake every 3400 years ( Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, vol 98, p 1696).
The Japanese media have drawn attention to a quake of magnitude 6.6 on the far side of the country, between Nagano and Niigata prefectures, and to a quake of magnitude 6.1 in Shizuoka prefecture, both within days of the main quake.
The massive quake knocked out cooling systems to reactors at the country's Fukushima nuclear plant.
The plant has been shut down even prior to the quake on March 11.
FORBES: Radiation Levels Near Fukushima Up, Tokyo Unchanged, Says IAEA
Yet since the last big Himalayan quake, in 1950, India's population has trebled and urbanised.
Rainien said that another blackout is possible because of the weakened electrical system following the quake.
They employed 40 people during the construction and had 25 on staff when the quake struck.
Just 11 minutes later, a second quake, measuring 6.3, struck 30 miles northeast of Tabriz.
The worst quake in Iran in recent times was the Bam event in 2003.
The quake's shallow depth, less than 13 kilometers (8 miles), likely magnified the impact.
The power plant's cooling systems failed after the quake and tsunami, leading to the reactors overheating.
Aftershocks can be expected for days or weeks after a quake of that magnitude, she said.
The quake left stone buildings in heaps, with rubble spilling over parked cars and into alleyways.
CNN: At least 150 killed in Italian earthquake, officials say
Taipei did not get around to declaring an emergency until five days after the quake.
The family dressed and prepared a bag for their baby, Laura, before the quake struck.
As of Thursday afternoon, Brazilian authorities had confirmed 15 Brazilians killed in the quake.
By 2Q in 1995, the nation still recovering from quake damage, profits had rebounded strongly.
FORBES: Japan Earthquake Throws Tiffany Off-Kilter, Stock Falls 5%
Once stand-alone devices are feasible, Quake hopes to combine them into a single chip.
All six reactors have experienced differing degrees of problems since the quake and the ensuing tsunami.
That quake also triggered a tsunami that toppled buildings, especially in the coastal Maule region.
CNN: Three strong earthquakes strike Chile in quick succession
The 2011 Japan quake and tsunami were a wakeup call for the Pacific Northwest.
应用推荐