Recently in an interview with GritTV, actor Danny Glover made a comment that I found to be completely absurd.  In his statement, Glover says that the entire Caribbean region is in danger of earthquakes due to global warming and the failure of the Copenhagen conference.

If anyone has Mr. Glover’s phone number could you please call him and inform him that geological events have nothing to do with the climate or meteorology.

Pat Robertson of the 700 Club has also made an equally stupid statement claiming the earthquake is the work of the devil and a result of a pact the Haitian people made with “The Devil” in 1791 to remove French occupation from Haiti.

So what is the truth?

The truth is that the Caribbean region lies on what is known as the Caribbean plate.  This plate rubs against the southern edge of the North American plate along the Eniquillo-Plantain Garden Fault.  This fault is virtually an immovable rock that runs from Montego Bay in Jamaica to the southern part of the island of Hispaniola (which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic).

According to geologist at the University of Texas in Austin, these plates have been pushing against this fault since the last major quake in the area in 1760.  Last week, the plates were able to budge the fault and get it to move.   The movement of this fault happened very close to the surface, only six miles underground.  This in-turn resulted in a large earthquake.

And, it is geological events such as this that are after all the reason the Caribbean islands exist in the first place.

The devil is not at work and this isn’t a result of a changing climate, it’s merely our planet showing us that it is alive and well and ever changing.   And these events will continue to happen as the Earth grows older.  Someday, Yellowstone will erupt as a Super-Volcano; The Midwest of the United States will experience a devastating quake of its own, perhaps causing the mighty Mississippi River to once again flow backwards as it did after the New Madrid quake of 1812.

The fact is, we all live in a risk zone – it’s called Earth.  And, perhaps the biggest disaster of them all will someday happen – Danny Glover may once again do another movie.  I strongly encourage everyone to be prepared!

Tags: news, Opinion