EARTHQUAKES ARE IN THE TOP 3 MOST DESTRUCTIVE NATURAL DISASTERS

QUAKES CAUSE 30% OF THE DAMAGE. THE OTHER 70% COMES FROM THE EFFECT OF THE EARTHQUAKE

A EARTHQUAKE AT A STAGGERING 9.5 IN CHILI WAS THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKEKNOWN TO MAN

NATURAL EVENTS SUCH AS VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS AND METEOR IMPACTS CAN CAUSE EARTHQUAKES

THE NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION CENTER (NEIC) RECORDS AN AVERAGE OF 20,000 EARTHQUAKES EVERY YEAR

5. EACH YEAR THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA HAS ABOUT 10,000 EARTHQUAKES OCCUR

NATURAL EVENTS SUCH AS VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS AND METEOR IMPACTS CAN CAUSE EARTHQUAKES, BUT THE MAJORITY OF NATURALLY-OCCURRING EARTHQUAKES ARE TRIGGERED BY MOVEMENT OF THE EARTH'S PLATES.

AN UNDERSEA EARTHQUAKE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN TRIGGERED A SERIES OF DEVASTATING TSUNAMIS ON DEC. 26, 2004. THE TSUNAMIS STRUCK THE COASTS OF MOST LANDMASSES BORDERING THE INDIAN OCEAN, BRINGING 100-FOOT WAVES AND KILLING OVER 225,000 PEOPLE IN 11 COUNTRIES.

THE LARGEST RECORDED EARTHQUAKE IN THE UNITED STATES WAS A MAGNITUDE 9.2 THAT STRUCK PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND, ALASKA ON MARCH 28, 1964.

ALMOST 80% OF ALL THE PLANET'S EARTHQUAKES OCCUR ALONG THE RIM OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN