A series of earthquakes struck off the coast of Vancouver Island, with no tsunami threat reported. Andrew Schaeffer, an earthquake seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, said last week that despite the uptick in seismic activity, the quakes were "business as usual" for the region.

We've become very used to seismic activity in Iceland's southwest corner, but last night, four earthquakes above magnitude three hit a very different area - the Kolbeinsey ridge, far off the country's northern coast.

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake, the largest in 25 years, struck off the coast of Hualien, Taiwan, causing nine deaths, hundreds of injuries, and significant structural damage.

Damage was so great that it could not immediately be assessed. Japanese media reports said tens of thousands of homes were destroyed.