Haiti’s biggest aftershock: The end of the worst or start of something new?

Haiti’s aftershock: End or start of something new?

NEW YORK — Haiti’s latest earthquake has scientists wondering if it’s the end of the worst for the shattered capital or if it could start a wider reaction.

Bruce Pressgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, says the aftershocks are a sign the land is adjusting to “the new reality of the rock layers.”

He said the revival of strong quake activity in an area dormant for 200 years renews researchers’ questions about whether major seismic activity in one area of plate boundaries could trigger quakes elsewhere.