- Globally, more than a million earthquakes occur each year, resulting in an average of two per minute.
- Within the modern era, the deadliest has been the one in Haiti that occurred in 2010 because it caused more than 316,000 deaths.
- The Eurasian region is the one that contains the countries with the most earthquakes in the world.
There are problems against which it is very difficult to fight and the clearest example can be seen with natural disasters. These types of events cannot be prevented because one can occur at any time. For this reason, the highest recommendation is to be prepared to be able to act correctly and avoid tragedies. But although all are exposed, there are some countries that stand out because they are the ones with the most earthquakes in modern history.
First of all, it should be remembered that telluric movements are necessary and impossible to avoid. They are generated by the clash of tectonic plates and although they are unpredictable, it is possible to identify a few seconds in advance when one will occur. In fact, there are some mobile applications that send seismic alert messages with up to 100 seconds of advantage.
With this in mind, The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) defines an earthquake as a tremor in the earth caused by moving waves. Globally, more than a million earthquakes occur each year, resulting in an average of two per minute.
Because they are generated by tectonic plates, there are some regions of the planet where they are more frequent than in the rest. Although the truth is that they can be generated at any time and can be of different intensity.
A large earthquake in an urban area is one of the worst natural disasters that can occur. During the last four decades (1970-2017) this type of natural disasters have caused more than one million fatalities worldwide in Armenia, China, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Iran, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru and Turkey.
Excessive urbanization in various seismically active parts of the world results in megacities with population densities of 20,000 to 60,000 inhab/km2. These cities are highly vulnerable to the negative effects of earthquakes, such as the high fatality rate caused by trauma, suffocation, hypothermia and acute respiratory failure, as well as injuries and/or fractures due to infrastructure destruction.
The countries with the most earthquakes and earthquakes
Based on all the above, Statista prepared an analysis with the countries with the most earthquakes recorded between 1990 and 2022. Within what is observed is that the Eurasian and African regions are the most geologically active in the world.
According to the figures of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the most affected nation is China because he’s logged 182 high-intensity moves during that span. The most serious occurred in 2008 in the city of Sichuan because it caused 87,000 deaths.
While the second position corresponds to Indonesia because it accumulates 161 earthquakes and it follows Iran with 108 and Japan with 94. What they all have in common is that they are in Asia and this shows that it is the most dangerous region in the world.
Finally, within this analysis of the countries with the most earthquakes in the world, there are also United States, Turkey, India and the Philippines.
Also read:
5 seismic alert apps: Warn up to 100 seconds in advance
5 tips for caring for patients with persistent Covid-19
GRAPHIC: The earthquakes of the last 100 years that have caused the most deaths
