Italy: Video of Earthquake scene in Central Italy around L'Aquila in the Apennines (6/4/09)

More than 100 people are believed dead and as many as 50,000 are left homeless after an earthquake hit L'Aquila and other towns in central Italy. About 1,500 people were injured and many people are still missing as rescuers search desperately for survivors trapped beneath rubble. The 6.3-magnitude quake struck at 0330 (0130 GMT) close to L'Aquila

Tectonic Summary

The April 6th 2009 earthquake in Central Italy occurred as a result of normal faulting on a NW-SE oriented structure in the central Apennines, a mountain belt that runs from the Gulf of Taranto in the south to the southern edge of the Po basin in northern Italy. Geologically, the Apennines are largely an accretionary wedge formed as a consequence of subduction. This region is tectonically and geologically complex, involving both subduction of the Adria micro-plate beneath the Apennines from east to west, continental collision between the Eurasia and Africa plates building the Alpine mountain belt further to the north and the opening of the Tyrrhenian basin to the west. The evolution of this system has caused the expression of all different tectonic styles acting at the same time in a broad region surrounding Italy and the central Mediterranean. The April 6th, 2009 earthquake is related to normal faulting and the east-west extensional tectonics that dominate along the entire Apennine belt, primarily a response to the Tyrrhenian basin opening faster than the compression between the Eurasian and African plates.(USGS)

Earthquake strikes northeast tip of Indonesia's Sulawesi Island (11/2/09)-geological background

A strong earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter struck off the northeast tip of Sulawesi island Indonesia. Indonesia -a country of over 230 million people-suffers frequent earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire has 452 volcanoes and is home to over 75% of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes. The epicenter was located about 320 kilometers north-northeast of the town of Manado, the US Geological Survey said.

Northeastern Indonesia is characterized by complex tectonics in which motions of numerous small plates are accommodating large-scale convergence between the Philippine Sea and Sunda plates. In the region of today's earthquake, the Philippine Sea plate moves west-northwest with respect to the Sunda plate at a velocity of about 62 mm/year. Locally, arc-arc collision is occurring between the Sangihe and Halmahera micro plates, wedging between them the Molucca Sea micro plate, which subducts beneath both (i.e. to the east and west) and forms an inverted-U-shaped seismic zone. Seismicity within the Molucca Sea plate is active to depths of approximately 260 km to the east and 400 km to the west. The tectonic setting of this region is unique in that it is the only global example of an active arc-arc collision consuming an oceanic basin via subduction in two directions.
The earthquake occurred approximately 30 km off the western coast of the Pulau Salebabu (Indonesia) in an area that has seen large earthquakes in the past. Since 1986, there have been two earthquakes with magnitude greater than 7 in this region.(USGS)

Redoubt Volcano in Alaska on verge of massive eruption? What are the implications?

The 10,200-foot Redoubt Volcano lies about about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage-in Alaska- at a point where the the Pacific plate dips beneath, or subducts, the North American plate. The Aleutian Islands are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The volcano erupted in 1989-1990. Volcanic ash was so thick that it turned daylight into darkness. The volcano also erupted in 1902, 1966 and 1967-68.