TABLE 1 - Frequency of Occurrence of Earthquakes
Based on Observations since 1900

Descriptor Magnitude Average Annually
Great 8 and higher 1
Major 7 - 7.9 18
Strong 6 - 6.9 120
Moderate 5 - 5.9 800
Light 4 - 4.9 6,200 (estimated)
Minor 3 - 3.9 49,000 (estimated)
Very Minor < 3.0 Magnitude 2 - 3: about 1,000 per day
Magnitude 1 - 2: about 8,000 per day

 

TABLE 2 Number of Earthquakes Worldwide for 1990 - 2003
Located by the US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center

Magnitude 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
8.0 to 9.9 0 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
7.0 to 7.9 12 11 23 15 13 22 21 16 11 18 14 15 13 13
6.0 to 6.9 115 105 104 141 161 185 160 129 117 128 158 126 130 132
5.0 to 5.9 1635 1469 1541 1449 1542 1327 1223 1118 979 1106 1345 1243 1218 1026
4.0 to 4.9 4493 4372 5196 5034 4544 8140 8794 7938 7303 7042 8045 8084 8584 7804
3.0 to 3.9 2457 2952 4643 4263 5000 5002 4869 4467 5945 5521 4784 6151 7005 6972
2.0 to 2.9 2364 2927 3068 5390 5369 3838 2388 2397 4091 4201 3758 4162 6419 7055
1.0 to 1.9 474 801 887 1177 779 645 295 388 805 715 1026 944 1137 2262
0.1 to 0.9 0 1 2 9 17 19 1 4 10 5 5 1 10 117
No Magnitude 5062 3878 4084 3997 1944 1826 2186 3415 2426 2096 3120 2938 2937 3210
Total 16612 16516 19548 21476 19371 21007 19938 19872 21688 20832 22256 23534 27454 *28592
Estimated
Deaths		 51916 2326 3814 10036 1038 7949 589 3069 9430 22662 231 21357 1685 8819

TABLE 3 -

Number of Earthquakes in the United States for 1990 - 2003
Located by the US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center

Magnitude 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
8.0 to 9.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7.0 to 7.9 0 1 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 0 1 1 1
6.0 to 6.9 3 6 9 9 5 7 6 6 3 5 10 5 5 8
5.0 to 5.9 72 50 84 69 67 49 109 63 62 52 60 45 70 56
4.0 to 4.9 283 255 404 269 331 355 621 362 411 360 287 294 538 515
3.0 to 3.9 621 701 1713 1115 1543 1050 1042 1072 1053 1388 913 834 1525 1081
2.0 to 2.9 411 555 996 1007 1194 820 652 759 742 814 657 646 1228 611
1.0 to 1.9 1 3 5 7 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 2 2
0.1 to 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No Magnitude 877 599 368 457 444 444 375 575 508 381 415 434 507 290
Total 2268 2170 3581 2933 3587 2725 2807 2839 2779 3003 2342 2261 3876 *2564
Estimated
Deaths		 0 2 3 2 60 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2


* As of 23 December 2003


 

URL: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqstats.html