A magnitude 6.2 earthquake that shook Mexico on Saturday was blamed for five deaths, spreading fear among a population reeling from multiple natural disasters and interrupting the search for survivors from a bigger tremor earlier this week. South of Mexico City, the Popocatepetl volcano sent a column of ash into the sky, capping a period of seismic activity including two powerful tremors this month that have killed more than 400 people and caused damages of up to $8 billion. Mexico’s capital was shattered by Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 quake that flattened dozens of buildings and killed at least 307 people.

Of course the magnitude 8.1 earthquake that hit Mexico back on September 7th was the largest earthquake that we have seen down there in ages.

The earthquakes are getting most of the attention from the media, and without a doubt they have caused extensive damage, but Mt. Popocatepetl may be of even greater concern. It has “registered 181 low-intensity exhalations” in recent days, and on Saturday it erupted explosively three times. A catastrophic eruption of Mt. Popocatepetl would be a nightmare beyond anything that we have witnessed in the modern history of Mexico. The volcano sits only about 50 miles away from Mexico City, and there are close to 25 million people living in the Mexico City metropolitan area. In recent years, smoke and ash from minor eruptions of Mt. Popocatepetl have reached the city, but most people living there have absolutely no idea how immensely powerful the volcano truly is. Popocatepetl is an ancient Aztec word that can be translated as “smoking mountain”, and centuries ago enormous mud flows from the mountain buried entire Aztec cities…

Scientists assure us that someday the west coast will be hit by a major tsunami. It literally is just a matter of time. In fact, the Los Angeles Times reported on one study that discovered that a magnitude 9.0 earthquake along the Cascadia fault could potentially produce a tsunami which would “wash away coastal towns”…

If a 9.0 earthquake were to strike along California’s sparsely populated North Coast, it would have a catastrophic ripple effect. A giant tsunami created by the quake would wash away coastal towns, destroy U.S. 101 and cause $70 billion in damage over a large swath of the Pacific coast. More than 100 bridges would be lost, power lines toppled and coastal towns isolated. Residents would have as few as 15 minutes notice to flee to higher ground, and as many as 10,000 would perish. Scientists last year published this grim scenario for a massive rupture along the Cascadia fault system, which runs 700 miles off shore from Northern California to Vancouver Island.

As recent weeks have clearly demonstrated, our planet is become increasingly unstable. For the moment, much of the American population is still extremely complacent, but I have a feeling that won’t last for too much longer. A great shaking is coming, and most people in this country will be completely blindsided by it.