If you think the alternative fueling stations in the US are a varied group of substances, the different ways we produce electricity are an even bigger group. There are 24 different types of power plants amongst the largest 2,500 power plants in the United States mapped below. Unlike gas for vehicles, there is not an undisputed leader amongst power plants. Natural Gas is tops and only makes up 42% of the production facilities. However, geography favors certain types more than others, and you’ll find smaller plants and populations with different types of leading power types. Click around and explore this community-produced map to see how the US makes its electricity.

View US Power Plants in a full screen map

Unsurprisingly, most of these power plants are near large populations. The more people there are, the more power they need. Since this dataset contains the 2,500 largest facilities, they’re most likely to be near urban areas along each coasts and near large cities throughout the west and midwest.

As you explore each energy source, there are some trends that begin to appear. For example, uranium is most common along the Atlantic and in the midwest. By comparison, hydropower along the West coast and in southeast.

Coal is most common east of the Mississippi River. California is the most populous state, but it only has five coal power plants amongst the top 2,500 plants nationwide. Oregon and Washington each have one, continuing the trend along the west coast.

Things get really interesting in small and remote states. Hawaii is as remote as it gets, and its population is served by 13 of the largest power plants, nine of which use petroleum. Alaska has only seven facilities that make the list of the top power plants, and five of them are natural gas-powered. The geographically large state has a sparse population, which means many of its power plants are much too small to appear amongst the top in the nation. According to the Alaska Power Association, there are 50 hydroelectric plants in the state, the smallest of which is the six-megawatt Power Creek plant serving 2,700 Cordova area residents. Obviously, that one does not make the map.

Amongst the smallest producers on the top list (which starts at 45 megawatt stations), hydropower is the most common. The reason it leads the way for smaller stations is likely because it can be created easily at a small scale—just add water, or a water source, at least.

Outside of the US, German engineers are looking to turn their surplus wind into another type of hydropower, hydrogen. The zero emission fuel has long been a darling of alternative fuel advocates. If they make the scientific advances to make the process efficient, perhaps we’ll see an output other than electricity at the US’s 240 wind power plants. And that would likely mean an increase from the measly 56 hydrogen fuel stations currently open across the US.

80 years ago, on April 20, 1935, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Taiwan. Over 12,000 people were injured and another 3,270 died. It was the first of three major quakes that year and the most deadly in Taiwan’s history. On a worldwide scale, it’s solidly in the top 100 earthquakes by death toll since 1900, though there are many others beyond it, including six that can be measured in the 100,000s of deaths. The map below shows the deadliest quakes of the last 100 years or so.

View Earthquakes with over 1,000 deaths in a full screen map

Only one hit the United States, the famous 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, which killed about 3,000 people. North America’s only other deadly earthquakes were in Jamaica (1907), Mexico (1985), and Haiti (2010). The most recent of those three is also the most deadly of all time, with 316,000 fatalities estimated.

The next on the most deadly list is 1976’s Tangshan, China, earthquake, that saw 242,769 people perish. The Sumatran quake of 2004 is next with 227,898 deaths. Another Chinese quake, in 1920, is estimated to have killed 200,000.

Deadly quakes do not always mean a higher magnitude. A 9.5 earthquake in Chile in 1920 killed only 1,655. While still amongst the most deadly, it is in the lower half of those mapped above. On the other end of the spectrum, a comparatively small quake of 6.6 killed 31,000 in southeastern Iran in 2003.

The Middle East and Asia are the hardest hit in terms of both magnitude and deaths. More and stronger earthquakes tend to occur where tectonic plates meet. Poverty typically leads to higher casualties, as less-wealthy nations are not prepared for natural disasters, nor have the infrastructure in place to secure buildings.

Of course, even highly industrialized nations can be caught off guard. The most recent amongst the quakes mapped above is Japan’s 2011 disaster. The earthquake and tsunami severely damaged a nuclear power plant, and saw debris from damaged structures float all the way to the west coast of the United States. Over 20,000 people were killed or are still missing.

Earthquakes don’t have to be all about lives lost. If you’re interested in map-making, earthquakes are a great data source to explore. The USGS keeps a live feed of earthquakes for the past hour, day, week, or month. You can choose only quakes above a certain size or you can drink from the firehose and have the entire world’s seismic activity (often hundreds of events per day).

Try downloading a CSV, then upload it to BatchGeo to instantly visualize the latest earthquakes.

It’s Tax Week in the United States. April 15th is tax day, when every American making an income needs to file their paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service. Just how much the federal government collects varies by state, as you’ll see in the map embedded below. The results for each state are primarily determined by two factors: the incomes of its people and its population relative to other states.

View Tax Revenue Per State in a full screen map

Population obviously plays a major factor in how much tax revenue a state generates. The five most populous states (California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois) are also the top five according to gross tax revenues. The reverse is also true. The five smallest states by population (Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) are also the bottom five by tax revenue.

Things get interesting when you remove the population factor and compare tax revenues per capita. California, for example, clocks in near the US average, despite being tops overall. Some populous states still end up high in the list. New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois all fall in the top 10 of gross tax revenues, as well as revenue per capita. On the other hand, less populous states like Delaware, Nebraska, and Rhode Island are high on revenues per capita while predictably falling in the bottom half of gross revenue.

The non-states bookend the rankings of tax revenue per capita. Washington, D.C., sends more than $30,000 per individual to the federal government. Puerto Rico is below $1,000 for each of its taxpayers.

Finally, another useful way to look at tax revenues is by the percentage of the Gross State Product (GSP). The GSP is like the Gross Domestic Product for countries, the GSP is an estimation of all the goods and services within a state. Topping the list is Delaware, where nearly one-third of the GSP is paid as federal taxes. Minnesota, Arkansas, New Jersey, and Ohio round out the top five.

Of course, by this time of year, most taxes have already been paid. Over 70% of Americans overpay their taxes. That means the majority of Americans will receive a tax refund.