If I remember correctly, no one was killed. Likewise, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake is about 32 times more powerful than a magnitude 6.0 earthquake. An 8.0 earthquake is 1000 times more powerful than a 6.0 earthquake. If I find it, I will post it here. My research indicates that there is no apparent increase in earthquakes.
Folks just happen to be living near fault lines, and the population is increasing rapidly.
In my opinion, Lindsey and others have made misleading and erroneous statements about an increase in the number of earthquakes. All they've done apparently is look in a World Almanac and counted the number of earthquakes listed for each decade. Such a claim is soundly refuted by the facts though. As quoted earlier, Grant Jeffrey cited an increase in the number of 7.2 or greater magnitude earthquakes. It seems that the data from the USGS does not support Jeffrey's claims.