Several big earthquakes occurred, starting in Haiti (January 12), followed by Chile (February 27), China (April 15), Taiwan (March 4), and Turkey (March 8), and many smaller earthquakes that had a lesser impact on human life, property and environment (Figure 1: earthquake map for 2010, by USGS). Many wonder if the number of earthquakes is increasing, but scientist say they are not becoming more frequent: (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/eqstats.php)
Also, the Icelandic volcano Eyjafalljokull erupted on April 14, forming a massive cloud of volcanic ash (Figure 2) that had an enormous impact on air traffic, with 27 airports closed for many days.