Chart assignment
Charts to read and discuss
Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.
Chart 1 of 1 · Earthquakes
How many earthquakes are recorded worldwide each year?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
Seismographs recorded 8,556 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more around the world in 2025, 2.9 times the 2,987 of 1973, when the U.S. Geological Survey's modern catalog begins. Much of that rise comes from more and better sensors catching smaller quakes, not from more earthquakes: the count of magnitude 6 or more stayed between about 80 and 210 a year from 1973 to 2025.
Questions to discuss
- In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
- Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
- Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat) (Public domain (U.S. government work); source U.S. Geological Survey) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025
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