5.9-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes East Coast

[zenmaster]

I've done the research at USGS and found that in the early 2000s we were avg'ing 1350 >=5.0M quakes. In the mid 2000s that number jumps to somewhere around 1700-1800 per year. Since then, we're up around 2000-2100 per year. This year is on pace to crack 2500 quakes of that magnitude or greater.

Worldwide quakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater (source USGS & http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/other/quake1.html ):
1980: 1418
1981: 1271
1982: 1520
1983: 1813
1984: 1678
1985: 1798
1986: 1798
1987: 1760
1988: 1560
1989: 1586
1990: 1744
1991: 1569
1992: 1677
1993: 1575
1994: 1701
1995: 1521
1996: 1386
1997: 1249
1998: 1108
1999: 1238
2000: 1505
2001: 1361
2002: 1341
2003: 1358
2004: 1672
2005: 1844
2006: 1865
2007: 2270
2008: 1958
2009: 2124
2010: 2136
2011: 2069 (Sep 25)