Number of Earthquakes by Year

Link to Resources on the Great Tohoku Earthquake, 11 March 2011 (near Sendai, Japan)

(all data from USGS)

World Earthquakes, 1970-2012

year	number of earthquakes in magnitude range					estimated deaths
	8.0 to 9.9	7.0 to 7.9	6.0 to 6.9	5.0 to 5.9	5.0 to 9.9
1970	0	20	110	1,195	1,325	68,202
1971	1	19	112	1,331	1,463	1,279
1972	0	15	110	1,316	1,441	11,179
1973	0	13	95	1,331	1,439	659
1974	0	14	99	1,312	1,425	5,440
1975	1	14	107	1,447	1,569	12,372
1976	2	15	114	1,649	1,780	697,309
1977	2	11	89	1,686	1,788	2,849
1978	0	16	93	1,526	1,635	15,192
1979	0	13	100	1,366	1,479	1,475
1980	1	13	105	1,299	1,418	8,620
1981	0	13	90	1,168	1,271	5,223
1982	0	10	85	1,425	1,520	3,328
1983	0	14	126	1,673	1,813	2,372
1984	0	8	91	1,579	1,678	174
1985	1	13	110	1,674	1,798	9,846
1986	1	5	89	1,665	1,760	1,068
1987	0	11	112	1,437	1,560	1,080
1988	0	8	93	1,485	1,586	26,552
1989	1	6	79	1,444	1,530	617
1990	0	18	109	1,617	1,744	52,056
1991	0	16	96	1,457	1,569	3,210
1992	0	13	166	1,498	1,677	3,920
1993	0	12	137	1,426	1,575	10,096
1994	2	11	146	1,542	1,701	1,634
1995	2	18	183	1,318	1,521	7,980
1996	1	14	149	1,222	1,386	589
1997	0	16	120	1,113	1,249	3,069
1998	1	11	117	979	1,108	9,430
1999	0	18	116	1,104	1,238	22,662
2000	1	14	146	1,344	1,505	231
2001	1	15	121	1,224	1,361	21,357
2002	0	13	127	1,201	1,341	1,685
2003	1	14	140	1,203	1,358	33,819
2004	2	14	141	1,515	1,672	228,802
2005	1	10	140	1,693	1,844	88,003
2006	2	9	142	1,712	1,865	6,605
2007	4	14	178	2,074	2,270	712
2008	0	12	168	1,768	1,948	88,011
2009	1	16	144	1,896	2,057	1,790
2010	1	23	150	2,209	2,383	320,120
2011	1	19	185	2,276	2,481	21,953
2012	2	12	106	1,364	1,484	629

Earthquakes in the United States, 1970-2012

year	number of earthquakes in magnitude range					estimated deaths
	8.0 to 9.9	7.0 to 7.9	6.0 to 6.9	5.0 to 5.9	5.0 to 9.9
1970	0	0	4	48	52	0
1971	0	2	6	61	69	65
1972	0	1	4	60	65	0
1973	0	0	7	70	77	0
1974	0	0	5	68	73	0
1975	0	2	10	67	79	2
1976	0	0	7	57	64	0
1977	0	0	7	69	76	0
1978	0	0	2	58	60	0
1979	0	2	7	60	69	0
1980	0	2	8	72	82	1
1981	0	1	2	42	45	0
1982	0	0	4	62	66	0
1983	0	1	8	66	75	2
1984	0	0	3	68	71	1
1985	0	0	5	60	65	0
1986	0	1	10	182	193	1
1987	0	2	11	100	113	11
1988	0	1	2	96	99	1
1989	0	1	4	73	78	63
1990	0	0	2	64	66	0
1991	0	2	4	49	55	2
1992	0	2	15	72	89	3
1993	0	0	9	62	71	2
1994	0	1	4	64	69	60
1995	0	0	6	45	51	1
1996	0	2	4	100	106	0
1997	0	0	6	63	69	0
1998	0	0	3	62	65	0
1999	0	2	6	50	58	0
2000	0	0	6	63	69	0
2001	0	1	5	41	47	0
2002	0	1	4	63	68	0
2003	0	2	7	54	63	2
2004	0	0	2	25	27	0
2005	0	1	4	47	52	0
2006	0	0	7	51	58	0
2007	0	1	9	72	82	0
2008	0	0	9	85	94	0
2009	0	0	4	58	62	0
2010	0	1	8	89	98	0
2011	0	1	3	51	55	0
2012	0	0	5	27	32	0

Relative annual energy release from earthquakes, magnitude 6 or greater, 1900-2010

Estimated total annual earthquake energy release (magnitude 8 earthquake = 1 = 1,000 magnitude 6 earthquakes) in red; 7-year average in grey.

Annual earthquake-related fatalities per million population, worldwide, 1900-2010

Annual earthquake death rate per million population in red; smoothed rates in grey (specifically, linear smoothing with 7-year Hann window). Note logarithmic scale.