World Seismicity

Today, there are many thousands of seismographs situated around the world. Most national governments sponsor a network of seismographs, and many universities have their own networks as well. In addition, there are international bodies maintaining global networks.

The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) is a permanent network of state-of-the-art seismological and geophysical sensors connected by available telecommunications to serve the scientific research and monitoring requirements of national and international communities. They are designed to provide broad uniform global coverage of the earth, and there are now 135 GSN stations. The number grew by 9 stations in 2003. All GSN data are freely and openly available to anyone via the internet.

Earthquake frequency

Estimated average annual number of large earthquakes in the world (USGS figures)

EARTHQUAKES CAUSING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES OVER LAST 5 YEARS

Sumatra, 26 Dec 2004, Mag 9.0 - 220,000 fatalities, mostly from tsunami

Morocco, 24 Feb 2004,            Mag 6.4 -    600 fatalities

Iran, 26 Dec 2003,                  Mag 6.6,     41,000 fatalities

Algeria, 21 May 2003,             Mag 6.8,       2,266 fatalities

Gujarat, India, 26 Jan 2001,   Mag 7.7,     20,000 fatalities

Taiwan, 20 Sep 1999              Mag 7.7       2,000 fatalities

Izmut, Turkey, 17 Aug 1999,  Mag 7.6,     17,000 fatalities

Major World Earthquakes, 2004

DATE	LAT	LONG	MAG	REGION	REMARKS
5 Feb 2004	-3.59	135.49	7.0	Irian Jaya	approx 30 killed
7 Feb 2004	-3.97	135.06	7.3	Irian Jaya	number of casualties unknown
24 Feb 2004	35.14	3.99	6.4	Morocco	628 confirmed deaths
24 July 2004	-2.43	103.96	7.3	Sumatra	no reported injuries
5 Sept 2004	33.06	136.64	7.2	Honshu	4 injured
23 Oct 2004	37.23	138.77	6.6	Honshu	at least 26 deaths
11 Nov 2004	-8.15	124.87	7.5	Timor	minor tsunami reported
24 Dec 2004	-49.31	161.34	8.1	Sth of Tasmania	minor ( 20 cm) tsunami in NZ
26 Dec 2004	3.32	95.85	9.0	Sumatra	Tsunami, approx 220,000 deaths
26 Dec 2004	6.88	92.94	7.5	Nicobar Is	aftershock of Sumatran event

 Major World Earthquakes,  2003

Major World Earthquakes, 2002

Major World Earthquakes, 2001

Magnitude 8 and above earthquakes of the world