A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the coast of Ecuador on April 16, killing over 250 people and injuring more than 2,500. Ecuador lies in a subduction zone, that is, a region where two plates meet and one rides over the other. In this case, the Nazca plate is slipping beneath the South America plate at a rate of around 61 mm per year. This plate movement produces earthquakes that may be very powerful. In fact, since 1990, Ecuador has been hit by seven earthquakes of magnitude 7 or higher within a distance of 250km from the latest quake. Other strong earthquakes occurred last month in Asia, in locations along the ‘Ring of Fire’ where seismic activity is very common. Two very small earthquakes (of magnitudes less than 3) occurred near the coast of the Maltese islands. If readers experience any earthquake-related shaking, they are invited to fill the online questionnaire found at http://seismic.research.um.edu.mt