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 frequencyEstimated 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
Major World Earthquakes, 2003
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Major World Earthquakes, 2002
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13 Jan 2001 | El Salvador | 7.7 | at least 844 killed |
26 Jan 1001 | India | 7.7 | at least 20,000 killed |
13 Feb 2001 | El Salvador | 6.6 | at least 315 killed |
23 Jun 2001 | near coast of Peru | 8.4 | at least 74 killed |
Magnitude 8 and above earthquakes of the world
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