The alarming frequency of Earthquakes

         What is an Earthquake???
Earthquakes are perceptible shaking of the surface of the Earth, resulting from the sudden release of energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. Or simply put Earthquake is the shaking of the ground, caused by volcanic activity or movement around geologic faults.
     It's estimated that around 500,000 earthquakes occur each year, detectable with current instrumentation, about 100,000 of these can be felt. Minor earthquakes occur nearly constantly around the world in places like California and Alaska in the U.S, as well as in El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, New Zealand, Greece, Italy, India, Nepal and Japan. It's said that larger earthquakes occur less frequently.
    The number of seismic stations has increased from about 350 in 1931 to many thousand today, As a result, many more earthquakes are reported than in the past. The United States Geological survey estimates that, since 1900, there have been an average of 18 major earthquakes (magnitude 7.0 - 7.9) and one great earthquakes (magnitude 8.0 or greater) per year and that this average has been relatively stable.
     Earthquakes can be recorded by seismometers up to great distances, this is because seismic waves travel through the whole Earths interior. The absolute magnitude of a quake is conventionally reported by numbers on the moment magnitude scale (formerly Richter scale, magnitude 7 causing serious damage over large areas) whereas the felt magnitude is reported using the modified Mercalli intensity scale (intensity II - XII).
      One of the most devastating earthquakes, if not the most devastating earthquakes recorded in history was the 1566 Shaanxi earthquake, which occurred on 23rd January 1566 in Shaanxi province, China. More than 830,000 people died. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed between 240,000 - 655,000 people is said  to be the deadliest of the 20th century.
       Earlier today it was reported that at least 11 people had been killed and 475 survivors most pulled out of the rubble after a powerful 6.4 magnitude shallow earthquake struck Southern Taiwan and collapsed a high-rise residential complex before dawn Saturday sending scores of people to the hospital.
     Local media said the building included a care centre for new born and mothers, and it was said that a new born was among the dead in the disaster, most people were caught asleep when tremors struck about 4am local time, it was located some 22miles (36 kilometers) southeast of Yujing, and struck about six miles (10 kilometers) underground, according to the U.S geological survey.
     Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damages, However a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in central Taiwan in 1999 killing more than 2,300 people.
Please leave a comment, share and follow up on Google plus+

Please Note: If  you would like to be a part of the team in writing articles on the blog and to be a global ambassador,follow me on Google plus+ and send me a message...