Susan Beattie, age 11, of Fredericton, N.B., for her question:

Why are there so many earthquakes in South America?

Andy is sure that by this time every one of his friends has sent some help to the unfortunate people of Chile. This southern neighbor of ours was recently shaken by a series of earthquakes which left countless people homeless. It is still not too late to send some of your clothing, money or some cans of food to help these unlucky people.

Earthquakes may occur anywhere in the world, but most of them seem to occur in certain regions. We call these places earthquake belts, There is an earthquake belt through the Himalayas and into the Mediterranean. There is another down the western shores of the Pacific through Japan and the China Sea. Another earthquake belt reaches right down the American shores of the Pacific. This is the one which struck the people of Chile. An earthquake belt is usually a region of new or fairly new mountains where there are also volcanoes.