The Good Friday Earthquake of 1964 in Southern Alaska at 9.2 was the second greatest ever recorded in the list of the world's 20 biggest quakes, which all range on the scale from 8.4 to 9.5. The Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 doesn't even make the list at 7.9.
With 2018 almost over the total of 13 so far is about average for a year since 1977. Big ones at 8 or greater are quite rare, averaging less than one per year over the period. And since 1977 there have been just two at 9 or greater, one in 2004 in Sumatra and one in 2011, the great Tohoku earthquake in Fukushima, Japan, often referred to as Japan's 311.
