10 Amazing Facts About Earthquakes!!!!

1. The largest earthquake ever recorded was a magnitude 9.5 in Chile back in 1960.           

 2. The 2011 earthquake near Japan increased the Earth’‘s rotation speed, shortening the day by 1.8 microseconds. 

3. There are about 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year. 100,000 of those can be felt, and 100 of them cause damage. 

4. About 90% of the world’‘s earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire, an area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. 

5. The 1911 Sarez Earthquake triggered a massive landslide that formed The Usoi Dam, the tallest dam in the world. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.4 and lasted for 2 days.

6. Inca architecture was built to be earthquake resistant. Inca masonry is effective in withstanding even major tremors. 

7. An earthquake on Dec. 16, 1811 caused parts of the Mississippi River to flow backwards. 

8. Mount Everest shrank one inch (2.5 cm) due to the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. 

9. In 132 AD, a Chinese inventor built a seismograph which, at the moment of an earthquake, expelled a copper ball out of the mouth of a dragon and into the mouth of a frog. 

10. Japan suffers 1,500 earthquakes every year.