When Mother Nature Strikes: Earthquakes and Other Natural Disasters [PHOTOS]

Earthquakes and other natural disasters are devastating incidences for both humanity and nature.

Recently, there has been a number of natural disasters that have wreaked havoc across the globe.

On Oct. 20, two small earthquakes hit the San Francisco Bay area, on the same day as California's state-wide earthquake preparedness drills.

The first was a magnitude 4.0 earthquake that struck at 2:31 p.m., with its center across the bay from San Francisco.

The second earthquake struck at 8:16 p.m. with a magnitude of 3.8.

There have been scattered reports of some minor damage, but no injuries.

These two mark three earthquakes in the nation in the past two months.

On Aug. 23, an earthquake of 5.8 magnitude shook Virgina and reverberations were felt as far up New York and Canada.

That temblor caused engineers to inspect the Washington Monument for damage. A crack was seen in the sculpture.

Across the world, other acts of Mother Nature have turned life upside down.

Japan, which is still recuperating from the March 2011 earthquake that caused great nuclear damage, suffered another blow with a Sept. 22 typhoon.

From a typhoon in Japan and Thailand's flooding, to the San Francisco and Virginia earthquakes, and toxic sludge in Hungary, the images of human suffering are harrowing.

Following is a slideshow of photographs of these and other natural disasters from the around the world.