For this post, I’ve mapped and graphed a decade of earthquake data (2004-2013, inclusive). I think it’s interesting to visualize tectonic plate boundaries in this way because you can immediately see which boundaries are the most active. The graph provides a sense of how frequently earthquakes of each magnitude occur; we experience just under 500 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 each year, but fewer than 20 at magnitudes of 7.0 and greater.

Data source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/search/