I’m not excited at all. You’re the one on the soapbox.
AGAIN, YOU are wrong with YOUR interpretation of how things appear to you.
We continue to be asked by many people throughout the world if earthquakes are on the increase. Although it may seem that we are having more earthquakes, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant.
A partial explanation may lie in the fact that in the last twenty years, we have definitely had an increase in the number of earthquakes we have been able to locate each year. This is because of the tremendous increase in the number of seismograph stations in the world and the many improvements in global communications. In 1931, there were about 350 stations operating in the world; today, there are more than 8,000 stations and the data now comes in rapidly from these stations by electronic mail, internet and satellite. This increase in the number of stations and the more timely receipt of data has allowed us and other seismological centers to locate earthquakes more rapidly and to locate many small earthquakes which were undetected in earlier years. The NEIC now locates about 20,000 earthquakes each year or approximately 50 per day. Also, because of the improvements in communications and the increased interest in the environment and natural disasters, the public now learns about more earthquakes.
According to long-term records (since about 1900), we expect about 17 major earthquakes (7.0 - 7.9) and one great earthquake (8.0 or above) in any given year.
See the chart at this USGS webpage...
There is no evidence that earthquakes are becoming more frequent, it is simply that more earthquakes are being recorded, especially small ones, as extensive world-wide monitoring networks continue to expand. The number of large earthquakes, however, remains stable year in and year out. The Earthquake Hazards Program (USGS) website provides data on the frequency of earthquake occurences.
Officials at the USGS estimate that several million earthquakes occur in the world each year. But many go undetected because they occur in remote areas or have very small magnitudes. The USGS National Earthquake Information Center locates about 50 earthquakes each day, or about 20,000 a year. Up-to-date statistics on the number of earthquakes worldwide and in the United States can be found in the Earthquake Hazards Program (USGS) website.