Global earthquake numbers on par for 2015: U.S. Geological Survey

Global earthquake numbers were on par with prior year averages, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said on Monday.

Globally, there were 14,588 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater in 2015, on par with prior year average of about 40 earthquakes per day of magnitude 4.0, or about 14,500 annually. The 2015 number may change slightly as the final results are completed by seismic analysts at the USGS National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) in Golden, Colo., USGS said in a statement.

To monitor earthquakes worldwide, the USGS NEIC receives data in real-time from about 1,800 stations in more than 90 countries.

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In 2015, there were 19 earthquakes worldwide with a magnitude of 7.0 or higher. Since about 1900, the average has been about 18 earthquakes per year.

However, earthquakes caused 9,612 deaths worldwide in 2015, a significant increase compared to 664 deaths in 2014. The majority of these fatalities – 8,964 people as reported by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – are attributed to the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that occurred on April 25 in Nepal. This was followed by another deadly earthquake with magnitude 7.3 on May 12 that killed an additional 218 people in Nepal. Deadly quakes also occurred in Afghanistan, Malaysia and Chile.

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The biggest earthquake in the United States, a magnitude 6.9 southwest of Umnak Island, Alaska, occurred on July 27, the statement said, adding that this occurred in a remote location so there was no damage. In the central United States, seismicity continued to increase, with 32 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 and greater in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas in 2015 compared to 17 in 2014, USGS reported. Moderate earthquakes also occurred in Nevada and Arizona. A magnitude 5.0 east of Challis, Idaho, hit on January 3. In the U.S., there were no fatalities caused by earthquakes.

More than 143 million residents living in the 48 contiguous states may potentially be exposed to damaging ground shaking from earthquakes, the USGS said. When people living in the earthquake-prone areas of Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. territories are added, this number rises to nearly half of all Americans.