EWA BEACH, Hawaii -- It's been a week since that massive 8.8 earthquake in Chile triggered a tsunami warning across the Pacific.

Since then, there's been a lot of shaking going on this week: 8.8 in Chile, 7.0 in Japan, 6.4 in Taiwan, 6.5 in Sumatra.

Geophysicist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Dr. Gerard Fryer, said large earthquakes tend to cluster, with the last cluster ending in 1964 with the Alaskan quake.

"Now we've had 2004, which was 9.1, 2005 which was 8.8, now 2010 which was 8.8. I'm sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop," said Fryer. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if within a year or so we get another magnitude 9."

Fryer says the significant quakes this week are likely a result of Chile's earthquake, which is being recorded as the world's fifth strongest since 1900.

"The plate tectonics are just working all the time. Constantly the plates are grinding together all the time and the strain is accumulating, accumulating and then you give it a big wham. It's not surprising there's just little adjustments all around the edges of the plates."

The U.S. Geological Survey expects 17 major earthquakes, those between 7.0 and 7.9, and one great quake 8.0 and higher, will affect the world in any given year.

Fryer calls the recent spate of quakes unusual.

So does that mean the earth is angry? Not really.

"The Earth is alive and it's just sort of reminding us that it does stuff. We just have to be ready for it," Fryer said.