Fear of Earthquakes

This week's phobia is: Earthquakes 

Fear level: 4

Why I am afraid:
          Earthquakes are scary.  They kill people and can completely destroy an entire city.

Some facts:

• There are over 1,000,000 earthquakes a year around the world.  About 100,000 of those can be felt, and 100 or so cause damage each year.
• Several thousand shocks of varying sizes occur annually in the United States.
• All 50 states are vulnerable to earthquakes.
• Earthquakes kill approximately 8,000 people each year and have caused an estimated 23 million deaths in the past 4,000 years.
• The average earthquake lasts around a minute.
• Aftershocks occur because the displaced fault line and crust are adjusting to the effects of the main earthquake.  Larger earthquakes can have aftershocks that last for years.
• The moment magnitude scale replaced the 1930's-era Richter scale in the 1970's as the method of measuring the size of earthquakes in terms of energy released.
• A quake is considered major when it registers more than 7.0 on the moment magnitude scale.  A magnitude of 3.0 or lower is nearly imperceptible. 

How I plan to get over this fear:

•  Look into if and when there have been any damage causing earthquakes in Ohio.