2020 was the 2nd lowest year this century recording just 121 major quakes, (mag 6 or higher). Only 2017 recorded a lower number with 111. A total of 3,210 major quakes have shaken our planet since January the 1st 2000. The average annual total stands at 157

Data USGS, graph, Gary Walton, Click on image to enlarge and read.

After saying goodbye to the crappiest year in living memory 2020 was anything but exciting concerning major quakes. A year which saw the Coronavirus devastate the lives of people across the planet, record heat, fires, floods and hurricanes, 2020 was the 2nd lowest year this century recording just 121 major quakes, (mag 6 or higher). Only 2017 recorded a lower number with 111.

As we stutter into the darkness of 2021 a total number of 3,210 major quakes, (mag 6 or higher) have shaken our planet since January the 1st 2000. The average annual total stands at 157 which happened consequently in 2003 and 2004.

The largest and most damaging quake this century was the 2004 Indonesian, Indian Ocean quake and tsunami weighing in at an impressive, magnitude 9.1. The ensuing tsunami killed almost a quarter of a million unfortunate people.

 

The Great Honshu Earthquake of 2011 is the 2nd largest recorded at magnitude 9 which killed 21,000 after a tsunami hit the East Coast. In January 2010 a magnitude 7 killed more than 160,000 on the island of Haiti, it has never fully recovered.

Major quakes since 1900, Data USGS. The graph is for free use please credit Gary Walton if used.

Major Quakes

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