An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck off the coast of the Solomon Islands (Santa Cruz) in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Friday.

This is the ninth major earthquake to strike the planet in the last five days. The present cluster of earthquakes began with a 6.0 event in Eastern Kazakhstan on January 28th, following a full moon on January 27, 2013.

Perhaps, it may not be readily apparent to most that our planet appears to now be inching towards the spectrum of some major cataclysmic event. This approaching black swan occurrence is characterized by the gradual escalation of geological activity of a violent seismic and volcanic nature.

44 volcanic eruptive events have already been recorded for the month of January; where there was only 77 chronicled for the entire year of 2012.

The on-going volcanic activity in Kamchatka also provides compelling testament that massive changes are now taking place within the planet’s interior. No less than 4 volcanoes on the Far Eastern peninsula of Kamchatka are erupting simultaneous, though all the volcanoes lie in relative close proximity to each other (with a 110 km radius).