How much rarer is each step up in earthquake magnitude?

In 2025 the world recorded 6,428 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 to 4.9, 1,983 of magnitude 5, 129 of magnitude 6, 15 of magnitude 7 and 1 of magnitude 8 or more. Each step up in magnitude is roughly ten times rarer, and releases about 32 times more energy. Countless smaller quakes go unrecorded worldwide, so the chart starts at 4.5.

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Key facts

Measure: Earthquakes worldwide in the year. Written from the data below.

  • 4.5 to 4.9 has the highest figure, 6,428.
  • 8.0 or more has the lowest figure, 1.
  • The highest is 6,428 times the lowest.

For class

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How to read this chart

Each bar counts the earthquakes recorded worldwide in one year within a range of magnitudes. The bars start at zero. Each whole step up in magnitude releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 7 quake is far more than one step stronger than a 6.

Questions to discuss

  1. Roughly how many times more common is each band than the one above it?
  2. The biggest bars are hard to compare with the smallest ones on this scale. What other way could you show these numbers?
  3. The chart starts at magnitude 4.5. Why might smaller earthquakes around the world go uncounted?

Source and date

Source
U.S. Geological Survey, ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat)
License
Public domain (U.S. government work); source U.S. Geological Survey
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “How much rarer is each step up in earthquake magnitude?” Chart. Data: U.S. Geological Survey, ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/search/ (data as of December 31, 2025). https://chart.ly/charts/earthquakes-by-magnitude (accessed October 15, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly.

Magnitude Earthquakes worldwide in the year
4.5 to 4.9 6,428
5.0 to 5.9 1,983
6.0 to 6.9 129
7.0 to 7.9 15
8.0 or more 1

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