Last week’s earthquake off the coast of Japan measured 9.0 magnitude, which makes it the fourth most powerful earthquake on record worldwide. Earth's poles shifted by more than 3 inches, Japan moved 12-13 feet closer to Hawaii, and the earth’s day is now 1.8 microseconds shorter.

Bill Dorman, news director at Hawaii Public Radio has the latest on precautions being taken at Pearl Harbor. Arthur Lerner-Lam discusses the geological makeup of the ring of fire. He explains how data gathering has greatly improved since the 2004 tsunami.

Bill Dorman, News Director at Hawaii Public Radio discusses the evacuation efforts taking place in Honolulu, HI. Arthur Lerner-Lam, seismologist and interim director of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory talks about the earthquake on the sea floor.

In 2010 alone, there have been earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Argentina, Japan, Venezuela and the Bay Area. This weekend, it was feared a series of tsunamis would hit Mexico, California and Hawaii. Are this many natural disasters normal? Dr. Arthur Lerner-Lam, a seismologist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory helps contextualize the shocking size of the quake.