What about the earthquake? What happened? Did God cause it?

I have just now read three fine posts on the recent earthquake in Japan. (Thank you, Google Reader.) One is by a geologist, writing at The Panda's Thumb, who explains what happened, and puts to rest some ridiculous rumors, such as the one about a supermoon (whatever that is). He also says that the number or severity of earthquakes is NOT increasing. There's also a Wikipedia article on this earthquake.

Two other posts are from a Christian perspective. One, from Heart, Mind and Soul, deals with the question, "Did God cause this earthquake?" Short answer: "No," but it's not quite that simple. Read the post, and the second comment. As the blogger points out, Jesus answered a question like that.

The second post, by He Lives, is on the statement, "There must not be a god, because if there was, he wouldn't allow such things to happen." (Paraphrased from scientist Jerry Coyne, who is not nearly as good a philosopher as a scientist.) The blogger puts that statement to rest, again.

Read these for more on the earthquake. I normally put out a Sunspots on Wednesday, but this seems more pertinent, so I'll hold off on that for a day or so.

P. S. A study, using US Geological Survey data, by the Institute for Creation Research (which I don't always agree with) indicates that the frequency of earthquakes is not increasing.

Thanks for reading this.