Global Earthquake Hazard Assessment Program (GSHAP) is a multi-year project supported by the United Nations that maps the global seismic zone distribution. GSHAP aims to help countries prepare for potential earthquakes and take measures to mitigate potential damage and reduce financial losses for personnel. The project team scientists divide the world into 20 seismic activity areas to study past seismic records.
Global Earthquake Disaster Distribution (Source: GSHAP)
North America
North America has several world-renowned seismic zones, the most famous of which is located on the central coast of Alaska, extending northward to Anchorage and Fairbanks . In 1964, one of the worst earthquakes in modern history occurred on this earthquake zone, with the focal source mainly located in Prince William Bay, Alaska, with an intensity of 69.2 magnitude.
North American seismic activity distribution
Another seismic activity belt extends from the coast of British Columbia to California Island, and this area Pacific plate collided with the North American plate. There are active fault lines in most areas of California, , San Francisco Bay Area, and Southern California, with strong earthquakes on the upper layers, including the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that razed San Francisco to the ground in 1906.
In Mexico , the active seismic belt is located south of the western mountain range, from near Puerta to the Pacific coast of the Guatemala border. In fact, most of the western coastal areas of Central America are seismic active zones, so this area happens to be in the area where the Cocos plate and the Caribbean plate impacted. In contrast, the eastern edge of North America is relatively quiet, with only a small area of seismic activity near the entrance to the St. Lawrence River in Canada.
South America
South America active seismic zones are mainly located in the area where the continental border extends to the Pacific Ocean. The famous seismic zone in this area is located in the area extending to the coast of Colombia and Venezuela toward the Caribbean . The seismic activity here is mainly due to the collision between the mainland plate and the South American plate. Four of the 10 strongest earthquakes in global history occurred in South America.
South America Seismic activity distribution
The strongest earthquake on record occurred in May 1960, with the source in the middle of Chile , and the Richter magnitude 9.5. More than 2 million people were homeless and nearly 5,000 were killed. Half a century later, in 2010, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake occurred near the city of Concepcion, killing 500 people and leaving 800,000 homeless, causing serious damage to the Chilean capital Santiago.
Asia
Asia is a hotbed of seismic activity, especially the Australian plate surrounds the Indonesia archipelago, and Japan spans three continental plates. Japan has more earthquake records than any other region in the world. Indonesia, Fiji and Tangjia also have higher annual earthquake records than other regions around the world. In 2014, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck Sumatra’s west coast, creating the largest tsunami ever.
Major seismic activity distribution in Asia
Flood disasters caused by earthquakes have killed more than 200,000 people. Other famous earthquakes in history include the 9.0 magnitude earthquake in 1952 on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and the 8.6 magnitude earthquake in Tibet in 1950.
Central Asia is another major earthquake zone in the world. The most active earthquake area is concentrated in the area where the eastern coast of the Black Sea passes through the Iran and extends to the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.
Europe
Except for the areas in western Iceland, there are basically no major earthquake zones in Nordic areas. But Türkiye and the Mediterranean are at risk of seismic activity. The earthquake in this area was caused by the impact of the African continental plate and the Eurasian plate. The Portuguese capital Lisbon suffered its most intense earthquake ever in 1755, with Richter 8.7, almost leveling the capital. Central Italy and western Türkiye are also centers of seismic activity.
Europe's major seismic activity distribution
Africa
Africa's earthquakes are far less than other continents. There is almost no seismic activity in most areas of the Sahara and in the central African continent.But there is a risk of earthquakes along the eastern Mediterranean coast (area of Arabic patches colliding with Eurasian and African plates) within the Lebanon range.
Africa major earthquake distribution
The area near the Horn of Africa is an active area of earthquakes. The region suffered the strongest earthquake ever in Africa, with a magnitude of 7.8, mainly in western Tanzania.
Australia and New Zealand
Although the overall earthquake risk in mainland Australia is at a medium-low level, its neighbors are world earthquake-related frequent zones. In 1855, a strong earthquake of 8.2 in Richmond occurred in New Zealand. According to historians, the Wailalapa earthquake caused a 20-foot increase in height for some New Zealand landscapes.
Earthquake activity distribution in Australia and New Zealand
Antarctica
Compared with the other six continents, earthquakes in Antarctica are not active. This is because its land is rarely located near the intersection of the mainland plates. But the exception is the area around Tierra Tierra 6 in South America, where the Antarctic plate meets the Scotia plate. Antarctica had a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in 1998, located in the Barani Islands in southern New Zealand.
