Earthquake Facts

• There are an estimated 500 000 earthquakes per year worldwide, 100 000 of them can be felt and only 100 cause damage. 
• The largest recorded earthquake in the USA was in 1964 in Prince William Sound in Alaska. It recorded 9.2 on the Richter scale.
• There is no government or organization that can accurately predict earthquakes.
• Each year southern California has 10 000 earthquakes, only 15-20 measure more than 4.0 on the Richter scale.
• The world deadliest earthquake happened in 1556 in China where 830 000 people were killed
• Alaska is the state most prone to earthquakes in the USA
• Earthquakes  are caused by shift plates underneath the earth' surface caused by pulses of energy emitted from the core of the earth.
• Earthquakes are measured in the Richter scale (aka local magnitude scale)
• Earthquakes measuring under 3 on the Richter scale are not felt, between 5-6 damage can be caused to poorly constructed buildings but only minor damage to well constructed buildings.
• 6 and above can be devastating to areas from a radius of 100 kilometers to several thousand kilometers.
• Earthquakes above 9 happen on average once every 20 years
• Earthquakes between 8 and 9 happen on average once per year
• The largest recorded earthquake was in 1960 in Chile and recorded 9.5 on the Richter scale.
• The highest number of deaths from an earthquake in the USA was the San Francisco earthquake in 1906 where 3000 died, many of these though were killed in the fire.
• The second highest number of fatalities in the USA is 165 in 1946 in Alaska