Question: Is there any pattern to when earthquakes occur in a certain place or are the quakes totally random?

Davie Galloway answered on 26 Jun 2012:

Earthquakes can occurr ANYWHERE! However, they are unevenly distributed over the earth, with the majority occurring at the boundaries of the major plates. These plate boundaries are of three types: destructive, where the plates collide; constructive, where the plates move apart; and conservative plate boundaries, like the San Andreas Fault, where the plates slide past each other. Earthquakes also occur, less frequently, within the plates and far from the plate boundaries, as in eastern USA, Australia and here the UK.