Is the world experiencing more earthquakes now than before?

Al Jazeera · 🇶🇦 public Qatar · Aug 17, 2026 · 964 words · By Mohammed Haddad; Amr Alkazaz

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What to know about Is the world experiencing more earthquakes now than before?

Al Jazeera reports: Is the world experiencing more earthquakes now than before?.

Claims checked 17

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Al Jazeera reports: Is the world experiencing more earthquakes now than before?.

Why it matters

Al Jazeera examines a decade of earthquake data to see how 2026 compares and explains how and where earthquakes strike.

Common ground

In the past month, three earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above have struck Indonesia, Colombia and Mexico, killing hundreds of people.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Is the world experiencing more earthquakes now than before??
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The Philippines recorded the strongest, a magnitude 7.8 off Mindanao in June that killed more than 100 people?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/17/is-the-world-experiencing-more-earthqua…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 17 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 7

info Single Source 3

check_circle Corroborated 2

verified Verified By Reference 2

help Insufficient Evidence 2

cancel Disputed 1

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Claim 1: “The Philippines recorded the strongest, a magnitude 7.8 off Mindanao in June that killed more than 100 people.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (Wikipedia and multiple web search results) confirm a magnitude 7.8 earthquake off Mindanao, Philippines, on June 8, 2026. While death tolls vary (one source says 32, another says 'over 100' in the claim), the event and magnitude are confirmed.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 1990 Mindanao revolt was an uprising that occurred in parts of the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. It began when Alexander Noble, a dissident Philippine Army colonel linked to the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Mindanao_revolt

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On June 8, 2026, at 07:37:40 PhST (23:37:40 UTC on June 7), a Mw 7.8 earthquake struck offshore southern Mindanao in the Philippines. The United States Geological Survey located the epicenter approxim…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Mindanao_earthquake

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Radio Mindanao Network, Inc. (RMN), d.b.a. RMN Networks, is a Filipino media company based in Makati, Philippines. It primarily operates a network of radio stations under the iFM and RMN brands. Its c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Mindanao_Network

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “The most seismically active zone in the world, accounting for roughly 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes, is the Pacific Ring of Fire.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “The Alpide belt, stretching from Java through the Himalayas to Turkiye and the Mediterranean, produces 17 percent of the world’s largest quakes”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “The most powerful earthquake ever recorded was a magnitude 9.5 quake that struck Valdivia, Chile, on May 22, 1960, generating a Pacific-wide tsunami.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “Four years later, a magnitude 9.2 quake struck the Prince William Sound region of Alaska, the second most powerful on record.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 6: “Earthquake size is measured on the moment magnitude scale, which reflects the energy released at an earthquake’s source.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 7: “The most recent quakes, in Mexico in July and Colombia and Indonesia in August, were all magnitude 7.4 or higher.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web search results for this claim are irrelevant (they discuss Windows updates) and do not contain any information about earthquakes in Mexico, Colombia, or Indonesia in July/August 2026.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jun 16, 2026 · The easiest way to get your Windows 10 or 11 PC up to dateIn this wikiHow guide, we'll teach you the easiest ways to install pending Windows updates. You may have pending Windows update…
https://www.wikihow.com/Install-Pending-Updates-Easily-Windo…

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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 17, 2026 · Learn how to install pending Windows updates on Windows 11/10 easily with step-by-step methods, fixes for stuck updates, troubleshooting tips, and safety precautions.
https://techbaked.com/install-pending-windows-updates-easily…

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web search NEUTRAL — May 25, 2026 · Install pending Windows updates easily with this easy guide. Fix update issues, improve security, and keep your PC running smoothly.
https://tech-tips-now.com/install-pending-windows-updates-ea…

verified

Claim 8: “In June, two powerful quakes seconds apart levelled swaths of northern Venezuela.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia explicitly confirms that on June 24, 2026, 'doublet large strike-slip earthquakes' (two quakes occurring close in time) affected northwestern and central Venezuela.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 3 January 2026, the United States launched a military strike in Venezuela and captured incumbent Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The US operation, codenamed Operatio…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_interventio…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 24 June 2026, doublet large strike-slip earthquakes affected northwestern and central Venezuela. The epicenter of the first earthquake was in Veroes Municipality, west of San Felipe, the capital ci…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Venezuela_earthquakes

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and various islands and islets in the Caribbean Se…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 9: “According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), there are about 20,000 earthquakes recorded globally each year, roughly 55 a day.”

CORROBORATED

A web search result explicitly states that the National Earthquake Information Centre (linked to USGS data) locates about 20,000 earthquakes globally each year, or roughly 55 per day.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On the morning of 26 August 2026, a series of flash floods and debris flows, also known as the Nepal-China floods, Bhotekoshi flood, or Rasuwa flood, destroyed the Gyirong checkpoint on the China–Nepa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Nepal–Tibet_floods

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The FN Five-seven (stylized as FIVE-SEVEN®) is a semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. The pistol is named for the 5.7×28mm cartridge's bullet diameter, and the tra…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_Five-seven

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of foreshocks and aftershocks of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Japan had experienced 900 aftershocks after the M9.1 earthquake on March 11, 2011 with about 60 aftershocks being over magn…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreshocks_and_aftersh…

+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 10: “By mid-August this year, 91 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above had been recorded worldwide, including 11 above magnitude 7.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for this specific claim.

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Claim 11: “They ranged from the lowest number of quakes at 99 in 2024 to the highest of 157 in 2021.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence does not contain the specific annual counts for 2024 (99) or 2021 (157) for magnitude 6.0+ earthquakes.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Map of earthquakes in Japan since 1900, with magnitudes. Click for date and details. (map data). Earthquakes M5.5+ around Japan (1900–2016) M7.0–7.9=163 EQs, M8.0+=14 EQs.[1].link between earthquakes …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Japan

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web search NEUTRAL — What makes an earthquake "significant"? Events in this list and shown in red on our real-time earthquake map and list are considered “significant events’, and they are determined by a combination of m…
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/browse/significant.p…

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web search NEUTRAL — Latest Earthquakes Today. All earthquakes Any magnitude. Major only Magnitude 4+. Custom. In 1 sec.Past 24 hours: During the past 24 hours, we have recorded 351 earthquakes around the world. Of those,…
https://earthquakelist.org/latest-earthquakes-today/

verified

Claim 12: “In the past month, three earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above have struck Indonesia, Colombia and Mexico, killing hundreds of people.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While Wikipedia confirms a magnitude 7.4-7.5 earthquake in Colombia on August 10, 2026, there is no evidence provided for corresponding magnitude 7+ earthquakes in Indonesia and Mexico within the same month to corroborate the 'three earthquakes' claim.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 10 August 2026, a Mw 7.4–7.5 earthquake struck the department of Chocó in Colombia, killing at least 331 people, injuring more than 4,600 others, leaving 111 confirmed missing and causing extensive…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Colombia_earthquake

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The nations of Colombia and Mexico established diplomatic relations in 1821 when Colombia became the first country in Latin-America to recognize Mexico's independence. Both nations are members of the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia–Mexico_relations

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Yosef Berty Fernandez (born 20 March 1955) is an Indonesian retired career diplomat who was Indonesia's ambassador to Peru and Bolivia from 2010 to 2013. Prior to his ambassadorial position, he was th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosef_Berty_Fernandez

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 13: “On December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 to 9.3 quake off the coast of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed about 228,000 people across the Indian Ocean.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 14: “From 2016 to 2025, the world recorded an average of 133 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater each year.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence consists of general earthquake maps and current activity reports; none of the sources provide the specific historical average of 133 earthquakes of magnitude 6+ per year for the period 2016-2025.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Map of earthquakes in Japan since 1900, with magnitudes. Click for date and details..The present list is not exhaustive, and furthermore reliable and precise magnitude data is scarce for earthquakes t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Japan

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web search NEUTRAL — Earthquakes Today in Numbers. Current worldwide earthquake activity is above average. Past 24 hours: During the past 24 hours, we have recorded 351 earthquakes around the world. Of those, 44 earthquak…
https://earthquakelist.org/latest-earthquakes-today/

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web search NEUTRAL — Maps, lists, data, and information about today's earthquakes, lists of the biggest earthquakes, and recent earthquakes.There have been: (M1.5 or greater). 107 earthquakes in the past 24 hours.
https://earthquaketrack.com/

help

Claim 15: “The Earth’s outer shell is broken into a puzzle of moving pieces called tectonic plates, roughly 100km (62 miles) thick.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for this specific claim in the provided evidence set.

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Claim 16: “Magnitudes are based on a logarithmic scale, meaning each whole-number increase represents about 10 times more ground shaking and roughly 32 times more energy released.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 17: “Venezuela’s 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, also in June, killed more than 6,300 people.”

DISPUTED

The occurrence of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes in June 2026 is confirmed. However, the death toll is heavily disputed across sources: one source reports 'more than 180', another 'at least 188', and another 'over 3,000'. The claim of 'more than 6,300' is not supported by the provided evidence.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.