Sandy is year's No. 2 topic on Facebook

Superstorm Sandy has been the year's second most-talked-about topic on Facebook, after the Super Bowl, according to data provided to CNN by the social network.

At its peak on Monday, Sandy scored an 8.34 on Facebook's "Talk Meter," which measures chatter about a news event on a scale of 1 to 10 when compared with a baseline. So far in 2012, Sandy trails only the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, which earned an 8.62 in February.

The year's other buzzed-about events on Facebook:

• First presidential debate: 8.18

• Vice-presidential debate: 6.79

• Academy Awards: 6.74

• San Francisco Giants winning the World Series: 6.71

• Hurricane Isaac: 5.24

• Announcement of Rep. Paul Ryan as Gov. Mitt Romney's vice-presidential candidate: 5.21

Facebook's data show that men and women are talking about the storm in equal numbers and that older users -- those over 55 -- are chatting more about Sandy than younger ones.

People also are using Facebook to let their family and friends know that they survived the storm. As of 10 a.m. ET Tuesday, the most-shared term by U.S. users was "We are OK." Other top shared words and phrases included references to electrical power, damage and trees,and terms such as "made it," "safe" and "thankful."

Although Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, that state did not have the highest rate of chatter about the storm. That honor went to Connecticut, with New Jersey a close second.

The top 10 states in terms of Sandy chatter are:

1. Connecticut: 9.19

2. New Jersey: 9.16

3. New Hampshire: 9.12

4. Delaware: 9.02

5. Rhode Island: 8.98

6. New York: 8.96

7. Washington: 8.96

8. Massachusetts: 8.95

9. Maryland: 8.94

10. Pennsylvania: 8.92