Recently, earthquakes have been occurring frequently in this region.
Recent technological innovations are remarkable.
近来 means 'recently, in recent years', the opposite time direction from 年来's 'for many years up to now', though both end in the kanji 来.
Compound of 近 (きん, 'near') and 来 (らい, 'coming'), literally 'coming near' in time, referring to the recent past up to the present.