146 Major quakes shook our planet in the year 2016 a slightly below average year this century

A total number of 146 major quakes was registered on our planet in the year 2016 see here below.

The biggest of these was the mag 7.9 - Papua New Guinea in the middle of December a week earlier a mag 7.8 hit the Solomon Isles, in November a mag 7.8 struck New Zealand, in April a mag 7.8 shook Ecuador. And in March another mag 7.8 struck Indonesia.

Below all the major quakes to strike this year

Major Quakes per year since 2000

Major quakes from 1900 to 2015 has seen an increase of 450% although somehow major quakes over mag 6.9, have remained remarkably stable since the same period, see below. 

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. 

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