Earthquakes: What are they?

I just came back from Trinity Home a while ago and sat down with my sister watching the news on CNN. Turns out that there was a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Japan again, off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. The tsunami that struck Japan on 11th of March hit the town of Sendai which is the capital of Miyagi prefecture. The latest earthquake that has just occurred is an aftershock of the initial 9.0 magnitude earthquake that happened on 11th of March

Miyagi prefecture (Source: wikipedia.org)

Just some background on aftershocks for you:

An aftershock is an earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake, the mainshock. An aftershock is in the same region of the main shock but always of a smaller magnitude. If an aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is redesignated as the main shock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock. Aftershocks are formed as the crust around the displaced fault plane adjusts to the effects of the main shock

(Source: www.en.wikipedia.org/earthquake#aftershocks)

Please support Japan in going through all the difficulty that they are currently going through. Lets gather our strength to pray for the people who had passed on and for those who remain in this world to clean up the mess that was caused by all the challenges that the Japanese are facing. In the mean time, let us also learn our lessons from the difficulties that the Japanese are facing in this troubled times