Following the recent tragedies in Haiti and Japan not to mention the large number of devastating tsunamis that have occurred in recent times, the power of nature has never been in sharper focus. The frequency of large earthquakes and terrible hurricanes appear to be on the up. Certainly it seems some of these conditions could be the result of human endeavor — global warming and so on, and they provides a fascinating area of study.

The interface on this app is just fantastic. The world appears as a globe. You can spent it round in any direction with your finger and pinch zoom in and out to focus on specific places and areas. All recent earthquakes are marked on the map and you’ll be able to see trends of quakes where tectonic plates meet. The main tectonic boundaries are also marked for you. You can get more information on each quake by clicking on it or you can filter them by magnitude, quantity and time period.

Also displayed are currently active hurricanes and tornadoes and the planets most active volcanoes along with accurate current weather sports for all the world’s major cities.

As suggested earlier, awareness of the power of earthquakes and other natural disasters has never been higher but many people don’t realize how common these things actually are. If every earthquake were to level a city we wouldn’t have any civilization left within a week!

This app provides a huge amount of data but it’s the attractive way in which it’s presented that makes it a real winner. If you’re studying these types of things of part of geology or other science course then you’ll find an awful lot of useful stuff on offer.

Developers adnX SARL (why do modern companies insist on such bizarre use of capital letters? Are better known for their business-related apps and have several available in the App Store. Don’t let that put you off though. This is one of the best apps of its type. It’s well presented, very accessible and packed with information. At the current price point it’s not the cheapest option however but certainly one of the most attractive.

Just one thing – if you’re paranoid we suggest you give it a wide birth or you may never want to go on a foreign holiday again!