The internet depends heavily on underwater cables, which carry information across the world's oceans. This map shows 93 of the world's major submarine cable systems, as well as 28 planned systems that are due to enter service by 2011.
The cables are vulnerable to
damage from earthquakes and underwater landslides.
This was demonstrated in 2008, when the cables running through the Mediterranean were repeatedly disrupted, leaving thousands of people without internet access (see
Why the Mediterranean is the Achilles heel of the web).
(Original
article)
