The countries examined together account for 97% of all earthquake-related fatalities from 1,500 to March 2022 
Christian Garavaglia Meteor-covered Argentina 02/22/2024 07:00 6 mins
This is the result of a new measurement that compares the number of earthquake deaths with the population of a country Ecuador, Lebanon, Haiti, Turkmenistan, Iran and Portugal have experienced the greatest impact in terms of fatalities over the past five centuries.
The new measure of the impactpresented in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA) by Max Wyss and colleagues from the International Center for Earth Simulation Foundation, is called Earthquake Fatality Rate or EQFL.
The EQFL of a given earthquake is the ratio between the earthquake's fatalities and the country's estimated population in the year of the earthquake.
In their study, Wyss, Michelspeiser, and Stavros Tolis calculate the EQFL in 35 countries and regions using the EQFL calculated for earthquakes that have occurred in those countries over the last approximately 500 years, as well as a measure of the EQFL per Add year for each country. This last measure was used Classify countries by the impact of earthquake deaths.
Earthquake death toll: a measure of impact #BSSA
A new measure of earthquake impacts shows that loss of life affects some countries – particularly smaller ones – more than others. (1/2)
Paper: https://t.co/7oi6NtjoeN pic.twitter.com/JJOJoYg3Ev
– SSA (@SeismoSocietyAm) February 15, 2024
The countries examined Together they account for 97% of all earthquake-related deaths from 1500 to March 2022. The EQFL measure excludes deaths related to earthquake-induced tsunamis, Wyss said.
Smaller countries suffer more deaths from earthquakes than larger ones
Although large earthquakes in places like California, Japan and China often make headlines because of their magnitude or destruction of property, The aim of the EQFL measurement was to show how the most critical impact of an earthquake – loss of life – affects some countries more than others.Wyss explained.
“We wanted to see how serious it is for a country to absorb these losses,” he said. “If you do this quantitatively, The order of countries to suddenly worry about changes“.
Smaller countries suffer more deaths from earthquakes than larger ones.
Researchers found that smaller countries suffer more earthquake deaths than larger ones, even if they experience less deadly quakes because The losses represent a larger proportion of the population.
California and a group of countries consisting of Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico experienced the largest declines in EQFL in the last 500 years. Italy was the country where the decline was smallest.
They also found that countries without major tectonic plate boundaries – boundaries where some of the largest earthquakes on Earth occur – and countries with slow strain accumulation rates on faults have the highest values in the EQFL. For example, The most recent deadly earthquakes in 2023 in Morocco and Afghanistan occurred along slowly deforming faults.
Improvements in mitigating earthquake impacts over time
Wyss and his colleagues also calculated that The EQFL as a function of magnitude has decreased over time in all countries analyzed. The authors point out that over time, buildings have become more resilient to shaking and countries have become better at quickly sending aid to earthquake zones and rescuing people trapped under rubble.
Wyss pointed this out The global trend of more people moving from rural communities to cities could also contribute to reducing the EQFLas urban buildings are more likely to be built with materials and designs that can withstand ground fluctuations, and emergency response can occur more quickly in a city than in a remote town.
Earthquake death toll estimates have been raised from orange to red. This is not good. pic.twitter.com/U55sgZpLVg
—️️Christian White️️ (@Christian1White) February 6, 2023
California and a group of countries consisting of Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico recorded the largest decline in EQFL in the last 500 years. Italy was the country where the decline was smallest“probably because old buildings are preserved, renovated and lived in,” the BSSA authors suggest.
News reference:
Max Wyss et al., The Earthquake Fatality Load: A Measure of Impact, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (2024). DOI: 10.1785/0120230187