In Brief
Earthquakes 2011
Across the world, at least 133 severe earthquakes occurred in 2011. The country affected most with 27 severe earthquakes was Japan. China was hit 20 times, Turkey 18 times and New Zealand 17 times. Earthquakes and their consequences, such as tsunamis, landslides and soil liquefaction, caused damages totalling 365 billion US Dollar in 2011, killed 20,500 people and destroyed the homes of a good million people. Thus, 2011 was the year with the most devastating economic consequences due to earthquakes so far.
In the previous year 2010, the amount of economic damage was significantly lower, however, the Haiti earthquake killed the by far greater number of 137,000 people and left up to two million people without home. This is the result of an analysis conducted by the Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM) at the KIT as given in a report, which can be accessed also via the internet.
