Major Earthquakes since 2000:(selected timeline of earthquakes around the world with death tolls exceeding 100)
June 4, 2000 – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes southern Sumatra, Indonesia, killing an estimated 103 people.
January 13, 2001 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquakes hits near San Miguel, El Salvador, killing an estimated 852 people.
January 26, 2001 – An estimated 20,000 people are killed by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake centered in Gujarat, India.
February 13, 2001 – Another earthquake strikes El Salvador, magnitude 6.6. Three hundred and fifteen people are estimated to have been killed.
June 23, 2001 – An estimated 138 people are killed in Peru by an 8.4 magnitude earthquake.
March 3, 2002 – In the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, an estimated 166 people are killed by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake.
March 25, 2002 – Another earthquake in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, this one a magnitude 6.1, kills 1,000 people.
June 22, 2002 – A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes western Iran, killing an estimated 261 people.
February 24, 2003 – In southern Xianjiang, China a magnitude 6.3 quake leaves an estimated 263 people dead.
May 1, 2003 – A 6.4 quake strikes eastern Turkey, killing approximately 177 people.
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September 1, 1923 – Kanto, Japan – 142,800 killed (7.9)
October 5, 1948 – Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – 110,000 killed (7.3)
May 12, 2008 – Eastern Sichuan, China – 87,587 killed (7.9)
October 8, 2005 – Pakistan – 86,000 (7.6)
December 28, 1908 – Messina, Italy – 72,000 (7.2)
May 31, 1970 – Chimbote, Peru – 70,000 killed (7.9)
June 20, 1990 – Rasht-Qazvin-Zanjan, Iran – 50,000 killed (7.4)
Average earthquakes per year:
8.0 or higher – 1
7.0 to 7.9 – 15
6.0 to 6.9 – 134
5.0 to 5.9 – 1319
4.0 to 4.9 – 13,000 (estimated)
3.0 to 3.9 – 130,000 (estimated)
2.0 to 2.9 – 1,300,000 (estimated)
Richter Scale:
Invented in 1935 by Charles Richter and Beno Gutenberg, of the California Institute of Technology.
After a seismograph recorded the amplitude of waves during an earthquake, Richter used a logarithm to determine the magnitude of the quake.
Each whole number increase on the scale, say from 5.0 to 6.0, represents a tenfold increase in amplitude and releases 32 times more energy.
