In 2008, 1948 earthquakes, of different magnitudes, were recorded across the world. In 2009, 2056 earthquakes took place, and in 2010, 2117 earthquakes caused the death of 226,729 people. Is Earth trembling more than ever before? Is the end near?

 

To give a perspective about earthquakes - an average of 1594 earthquakes occur every year as per figures compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.) since 1970.
 
In the last decade the number of earthquakes in a year has crossed 2,000 only three times.

 
The last time over 2000 earthquakes occurred in a year was in 2010, 2009, and in 2007, when 2270 earthquakes took place – the highest ever in recorded history.
 
The least number of earthquakes recorded in a year since 1970 has been 1108 in 1998.
 
Given this data, which is given in detail below, it seems Earth is experiencing a tectonic shift of some kind deep inside its hot and stormy belly. With 2011 starting on a devastating note, in which more than 3,400 have already lost their lives due to earthquakes, one hopes that the year passes without any further natural incident.
  
 
 
 
 

Year	Number of earthquakes in magnitude range					Estimated deaths
	8.0 to 9.9	7.0 to 7.9	6.0 to 6.9	5.0 to 5.9	5.0 to 9.9
1970	0	20	110	1,195	1,325	68,202
1971	1	19	112	1,331	1,463	1,279
1972	0	15	110	1,316	1,441	11,179
1973	0	13	95	1,331	1,439	659
1974	0	14	99	1,312	1,425	5,440
1975	1	14	107	1,447	1,569	12,372
1976	2	15	114	1,649	1,780	697,309
1977	2	11	89	1,686	1,788	2,849
1978	0	16	93	1,526	1,635	15,192
1979	0	13	100	1,366	1,479	1,475
1980	1	13	105	1,299	1,418	8,620
1981	0	13	90	1,168	1,271	5,223
1982	0	10	85	1,425	1,520	3,328
1983	0	14	126	1,673	1,813	2,372
1984	0	8	91	1,579	1,678	174
1985	1	13	110	1,674	1,798	9,846
1986	1	5	89	1,665	1,760	1,068
1987	0	11	112	1,437	1,560	1,080
1988	0	8	93	1,485	1,586	26,552
1989	1	6	79	1,444	1,530	617
1990	0	18	109	1,617	1,744	52,056
1991	0	16	96	1,457	1,569	3,210
1992	0	13	166	1,498	1,677	3,920
1993	0	12	137	1,426	1,575	10,096
1994	2	11	146	1,542	1,701	1,634
1995	2	18	183	1,318	1,521	7,980
1996	1	14	149	1,222	1,386	589
1997	0	16	120	1,113	1,249	3,069
1998	1	11	117	979	1,108	9,430
1999	0	18	116	1,104	1,238	22,662
2000	1	14	146	1,344	1,505	231
2001	1	15	121	1,224	1,361	21,357
2002	0	13	127	1,201	1,341	1,685
2003	1	14	140	1,203	1,358	33,819
2004	2	14	141	1,515	1,672	228,802
2005	1	10	140	1,693	1,844	82,364
2006	2	9	142	1,712	1,865	6,605
2007	4	14	178	2,074	2,270	712
2008	0	12	168	1,768	1,948	88,011
2009	1	16	144	1,895	2,056	1,787
2010	1	21	151	1,944	2,117	226,729
2011	1	6	68	584	659	3,400+

Data by U.S.G.S. as updated on March 16, 2011.



 See Also - http://www.merinews.com/article/the-world-will-end-in-2012-say-experts/139440.shtml