The Horizon Project earthquake chart - where did they get their data?

KathyT · 11-28-2008, 07:07 AM

I had seen the Horizon Projects earthquake chart a couple of weeks ago. (www.thehorizonproject.com) The Horizon chart shows a stable trend through about 1997 or so, and a large increase at that time. I knew at the time I wanted to download the data from the U.S. Geological Survey website and reproduce the charts myself.

And I am glad I did. I do not get the results the Horizon Project shows in their charts. The only source they refer to, is back to USGS. They say their chart represents Worldwide earthquake data of earthquakes between magnitudes 6 and 8. Their chart values on the left show quantities, by year, ranging up to 40. Even that number is inaccurate.

I have no idea where they got their numbers.

I have created my own chart. I show you exactly where the numbers are from the USGS web sites. I picked the last 18 years to match to the Horizon chart. I took the USGS numbers starting with 1990, and the 18 year period, if it were to match, should show the large climb Horizon shows. It does NOT.

You’ll see the numbers I loaded into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet below the chart. I took the direct USGS numbers and added totals for all earthquakes 6.0 and larger. You can see, the average numbers PER YEAR exceed 100… so where does Horizon get numbers below 40? Their numbers do NOT compute!

The data does not support a theory that earthquakes have been increasing significantly in recent years.

I welcome anyone to re-check these numbers and if more information comes to light, I’m interested in hearing about it.
(11/30/08 Please see my additional post below; the answer I got from Mr. Brent Miller.)
Here’s what my analysis of the data from USGS shows:
http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqstats.html
http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/info_1990s.html

11-28-2008, 07:07 AM	#1
KathyT Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: America Posts: 427	The Horizon Project earthquake chart - where did they get their data? I had seen the Horizon Projects earthquake chart a couple of weeks ago. (www.thehorizonproject.com) The Horizon chart shows a stable trend through about 1997 or so, and a large increase at that time. I knew at the time I wanted to download the data from the U.S. Geological Survey website and reproduce the charts myself. And I am glad I did. I do not get the results the Horizon Project shows in their charts. The only source they refer to, is back to USGS. They say their chart represents Worldwide earthquake data of earthquakes between magnitudes 6 and 8. Their chart values on the left show quantities, by year, ranging up to 40. Even that number is inaccurate. I have no idea where they got their numbers. I have created my own chart. I show you exactly where the numbers are from the USGS web sites. I picked the last 18 years to match to the Horizon chart. I took the USGS numbers starting with 1990, and the 18 year period, if it were to match, should show the large climb Horizon shows. It does NOT. You’ll see the numbers I loaded into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet below the chart. I took the direct USGS numbers and added totals for all earthquakes 6.0 and larger. You can see, the average numbers PER YEAR exceed 100… so where does Horizon get numbers below 40? Their numbers do NOT compute! The data does not support a theory that earthquakes have been increasing significantly in recent years. I welcome anyone to re-check these numbers and if more information comes to light, I’m interested in hearing about it. (11/30/08 Please see my additional post below; the answer I got from Mr. Brent Miller.) Here’s what my analysis of the data from USGS shows: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqstats.html http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/info_1990s.html Last edited by KathyT; 11-30-2008 at 07:41 PM.