I believe earthquakes are reminders we live in an imperfect world. God gave his only son Jesus up to the cross to die for our sins so God wouldn’t go around smoting things - this would break the promise He gave us through Jesus.
In a large way, the disaster in Haiti was a blessing for us - those of us being outside of Haiti that is. Haiti has finally been broken open and exposed for all the world to see in a way that cannot be turned away from, in an undeniable way, bringing into the daylight all the ugliness, all the poverty, the disease, the corruption, the exploitation of superstitions to keep people subjegated and child-like, people who have been ignored or hidden by self-interested ‘aid’ agencies for decades. This disaster has provided those of us unaffected by the disaster, the opportunity to do God’s work and to show the awesome power of God’s love, as we reach out with generosity of wallet and spirit, and our prayers, to the people of Haiti and for each other.
Robertson’s error is in his view of God, Whom he sees as some strong fellow up in the sky that knee-jerks every time something interesting happens “down here.” It’s the same error that was implicit in the movie “Bruce Almighty,” in which God (Morgan Freeman) tells Bruce (Jim Carrey) something like,
“Well, son, now you see that this god business is more complicated than you think. That pesky human ‘free will’ keeps getting in the way.” [or words to that effect]
The real issue in theology is whether we are willing to accept a view of God that is true, even if it doesn’t sound nice and neat. When Job asked God to explain why all the bad stuff happened to him, God, in so many words, told Job he has no right to demand an explanation from his very Creator.
A God who is omnipotent, and also “allows” something to happen, for all practical purposes has ordained that that very event happen. Otherwise, we must conclude that he merely “allowed” Jesus to be tortured and mercilessly crucified. Isaiah prophetically explained that it “pleased God to bruise Him.”