10 Things to Know About Earthquakes
- The earth’s surface consists of 25 interlocking plates. —National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- The earth’s plates move at a rate of roughly 2 centimeters per year. —National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- The largest recorded earthquake in the United States was an M9.2 in Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 28, 1964. —United States Geological Survey
- The costliest U.S. earthquake was the 1994 Northridge quake, which resulted in $15.3 billion in insured losses at the time, or roughly $24 billion in today’s dollars. —Insurance Information Institute
- The world’s largest recorded quake was an M9.5 in Chile on May 22, 1960. —United States Geological Survey
- The world’s costliest earthquake was the one that struck Japan on March 11, 2011. The quake caused more than $210 billion in overall damages and $40 billion in insured losses. It also claimed 15,840 lives. —Insurance Information Institute
- There are an estimated 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year. —United States Geological Survey
- California has two-thirds of the nation’s insurance risk, with roughly 2,000 known faults running throughout the state. —California Earthquake Authority
- Less than 12 percent of California homes have earthquake insurance. Of the California homes that do have earthquake insurance, most have a “mini policy” with a 15 percent deductible. —California Department of Insurance
- Three significant quakes hit on June 2, 2014: M7.8 in Indonesia in 1994 that killed at least 250 people and damaged or destroyed roughly 1,500 homes; M6.4 in Australia in 1979 that created a 7.4-mile long north-south surface rupture east of Cadoux; M4.5 in South Dakota in 1911, the largest recorded quake in state history covering roughly 62,137 square kilometers. —United States Geological Survey