A magnitude 6.7 - 39km E of Namatanai, Papua New Guinea is the fourth major quake in one week.
This is a very deep earthquake and no tsunami event is expected.
This mornings event is the 14th major quake of August and the 94th of 2016
Major quakes not on the increase in 2016...An ave 72 half way through the year
Are we experiencing an uptick in major quakes this year?
We have reached the half way point of 2016 and we have had a total of 72 major quakes, that is an earthquake of magnitude 6. or more.
42 is a steady average, 2015 had recorded 74 at this stage of the year and went on to record 146 for the year which is also average for the 21st century.
2014 had slightly more at this stage of the year with 84 but finished the year on 155.
Incidentally, I record every major quake on this blog and I had the yearly total at 82 major quakes, so it would be safe to say USGS have downgraded at least 10 quakes which were originally recorded at mag 6. or higher.
Below is a breakdown of major quakes since 2000
I receive many comments on The Big Wobble claiming major quakes are on the rise.
Since the year 2000 major quakes have remained quite consistent in numbers.
I have broken down all major quakes since the 2000 and put each category onto the same graph, (see above)
Apart from 2007 which recorded 196 major quakes and 2011 which recorded a record 207 major quakes, 81 of these being in the Japan area, the chart is remarkably similar.
The biggest quake to rock the earth was a mag 9.1 off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. This was the third largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and is the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska earthquake.
In total, 227,898 people were killed or were missing and presumed dead and about 1.7 million people were displaced by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa.
The only other mag 9.0 earthquake in this time period was the 2011 quake near the east coast of Honshu, Japan.
At least 15,703 people killed, 4,647 missing, 5,314 injured, 130,927 displaced and at least 332,395 buildings, 2,126 roads, 56 bridges and 26 railways destroyed or damaged by the earthquake and tsunami along the entire east coast of Honshu from Chiba to Aomori.
The majority of casualties and damage occurred in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima from a Pacific-wide tsunami with a maximum runup height of 37.88 m at Miyako.
The total economic loss in Japan was estimated at 309 billion US dollars. Electricity, gas and water supplies, telecommunications and railway service disrupted and several reactors severely damaged at a nuclear power plant near Okuma.
Several fires occurred in Chiba and Miyagi. At least 1,800 houses destroyed when a dam failed in Fukushima.
The Fukushima nuclear plant is still trying to stop nuclear material leaking into the sea and atmosphere five years after the disaster.
A mag 6.4 strikes the same area just two days after a massive magnitude 7.4 hit the South Georgia Island region
Near miss! A magnitude 6.0 strikes Japan north east of Fukushima
A massive magnitude 7.4 strikes South Georgia Island region
A massive M7.2 - New Caledonia and a M6.1 Fiji Islands are the 4th and 5th major quakes this month
A magnitude 6.1 - South Indian Ocean is the first major quake of August
A monster quake, magnitude 7.7 strikes - 31km SSW of Agrihan, Northern Mariana Islands
A magnitude 6.0 - Off the coast of Aisen, Chile is the sixth major quake of July
A mag 6.4 - 128km SE of Lorengau, Papua New Guinea is the 5th major quake of the month
A mag 6.2 - 66km WNW of Diego de Almagro Chile is only the fourth major quake of July
San Andreas Fault rocking and rolling as hundreds of tremors strike since Sunday night!
A mag 6.0 - 76km NNW of Isangel, Vanuatu is only the third major quake of July
A mag 6.3 - rocks New Zealand with two large aftershock's of mag 5.7 and a large foreshock of mag 5.7
A magnitude 6.3 - 32km NW of Rosa Zarate, Ecuador is the first major quake of July
Major quakes not on the increase in 2016...An ave 72 half way through the year
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