The threat of earthquakes are not new to the area - the US Geological Survey reported that the Japan trench has had nine earthquakes of 7 magnitude or greater since 1973.
The environment was similar to old mines on Earth that are contaminated with sulphur and acid, says Jeffrey Kargel of the US Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona.
A major earthquake of 7.8 magnitude Wednesday morning struck at a depth of 46km off the northwestern coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the US Geological Survey said.
The quake, which the US Geological Survey rates as a magnitude 7.8, was strong enough to shake buildings as far away as New Delhi, India.
The US Geological Survey Benchmark glacier web site offers information on its program to monitor climate, glacier geometry, glacier mass balance, glacier motion, and stream runoff.
A report by the US Geological Survey says the probability of an aftershock of magnitude 7 or greater in Haiti in the next 30 days is 3%, and of magnitude 5 or greater is about 90%.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) says that it was the most violent earthquake to strike the impoverished country in a century.
The data from previous US Geological Survey maps that depict the topography and geology of the United States.
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