40 Shocking Earthquake Facts
Concerning all natural disasters, earthquakes always remain the least expectable and the most destructive. Explore more surprising facts about the worst, biggest, and most disastrous earthquakes in this list of Earthquake Facts.
1. Earthquakes are a quick and sudden shock on the surface of Earth.
2. A Richter scale measures the strength of an earthquake.
3. Seismograph machine is used to measure the length of the earthquake.
4. 80% of the planet’s earthquakes occur in the ‘Ring of Fire’.
5. Earthquakes include the influential movement of rocks in the crust of Earth.
6. Different speeds of seismic waves are used to locate the epicenter of earthquakes.
7. A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes southern Sumatra, Indonesia and killing an estimated 103 people on June 2000.
8. Earthquake’s damage depends on depth and fault type.
9. An earthquake in Japan had a magnitude of 9.0 and killed over 15000 people on March 11, 2011.
10. The most powerful earthquake ever recorded was in Valdivia, Chile.
11. The NEIC records an average of 20,000 earthquakes every year.
12. The scientific study of earthquakes is called seismology.
13. Florida, Iowa, North Dakota, and Wisconsin were the only four states that did not have any earthquake from 1975-1995.
14. Most of the earthquakes occur at depths of less than 80 km from the surface of Earth.
15. The world’s deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1556 in central China.
16. North Dakota and Florida have the smallest number of earthquakes in the U.S.
17. Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state.
18. The European settlers experienced their first earthquake in 1663.
19. Most earthquake waves have a frequency of less than 20 Hz.
20. Parkfield, California, is known as “The Earthquake Capital of the World”.
21. Japanese mythology says that a giant catfish is responsible for earthquakes.
22. Earthquakes can also be caused by landslides, nuclear testing, mine tests, and volcanic activity.
23. In ancient Greece, people believed that the god of the sea, Poseidon caused the earthquakes.
24. More earthquakes happen in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere.
25. The highest tsunami caused by an earthquake happened in Japan in 1771.
26. In southern Xianjiang, China, a magnitude 6.3 quake leaves an estimated 263 people dead on February 24,2003.
27. Volcano eruptions can be caused by earthquakes.
28. The Indian Ocean earthquake lasted nearly 10 minutes in 2004.
29. Englishman John Milne invented the seismograph in 1880.
30. American scientist Charles Richter invented the Richter scale in 1935.
31. Earthquakes can release more energy than the atomic bomb.
32. Where the Earth’s tectonic plates meet is called “faults”.
33. An earthquake on the moon is called a moonquake.
34. The first recorded earthquake in California was in 1769.
35. Scientists who study earthquakes are called seismologists.
36. The earthquake near Japan occurred in 2011 increased the rotation speed of Earth.
37. Mount Everest shrank 2.5 cm due to the earthquake in Nepal in 2015.
38. The first scientifically studied earthquake occurred in Lisbon in 1755.
39. The world has two earthquakes every minute.
