USGS Earthquake

The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program provides a comprehensive global catalog of earthquake events. No API key is required.

MetaData(USGSEarthquake())

MetaData("", "20,000 events/query", :natural_hazards, Dict(:cdi => "Community Decimal Intensity", :felt => "Number of felt reports", :place => "Description of location", :sig => "Significance (0-1000)", :tsunami => "Tsunami association flag", :time => "Event time (ms since epoch)", :magType => "Magnitude type (ml, mb, mw, etc.)", :type => "Event type (earthquake, quarry blast, etc.)", :mmi => "Modified Mercalli Intensity", :alert => "PAGER alert level"…), :point, "Event-based", "Global", :timeseries, nothing, "Comprehensive catalog", "Public Domain", "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/", Dict("DataFrames" => "a93c6f00-e57d-5684-b7b6-d8193f3e46c0"))

Bounding Box Query

Query earthquakes within a geographic bounding box. Results are returned as GeoJSON FeatureCollections.

# M4+ earthquakes in California, January 2024
plan = DataAccessPlan(USGSEarthquake(),
    Extent(X=(-125.0, -114.0), Y=(32.0, 42.0)),
    Date(2024, 1, 1), Date(2024, 1, 31);
    minmagnitude = 4.0)
plan

DataAccessPlan for usgsearthquake
  Extent:    Extent(X=(-125.0, -114.0), Y=(32.0, 42.0))
  Time:      2024-01-01 to 2024-01-31 (31 days)
  Variables: cdi, felt, place, sig, tsunami, time, magType, type, mmi, alert, mag, depth
  orderby: time
  limit: 20000
  minmagnitude: 4.0
  API calls: 1
  Est. size: 29.062 KiB

  Request 1: GET Extent(X=(-125.0, -114.0), Y=(32.0, 42.0)), 31 days → usgsearthquake/124a44893d7f0600.json

files = fetch(plan)
data = JSON.parsefile(files[1])
n = length(data["features"])
println("$n earthquakes found")

6 earthquakes found

Point + Radius Query

Query earthquakes within a radius (default 100 km) of a point:

plan = DataAccessPlan(USGSEarthquake(), (-122.4, 37.8),
    Date(2024, 1, 1), Date(2024, 12, 31);
    minmagnitude = 2.0)
plan

DataAccessPlan for usgsearthquake
  Extent:    Point(37.8, -122.4), radius 100 km
  Time:      2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 (366 days)
  Variables: cdi, felt, place, sig, tsunami, time, magType, type, mmi, alert, mag, depth
  orderby: time
  limit: 20000
  minmagnitude: 2.0
  API calls: 1
  Est. size: 343.125 KiB

  Request 1: GET Point(37.8, -122.4), radius 100 km, 366 days → usgsearthquake/30e25efe084f1966.json

Filtering Options

Keyword	Type	Description
`minmagnitude`	`Float64`	Minimum magnitude
`maxmagnitude`	`Float64`	Maximum magnitude
`mindepth`	`Float64`	Minimum depth (km)
`maxdepth`	`Float64`	Maximum depth (km)
`limit`	`Int`	Max events returned (default 20,000)
`orderby`	`String`	Sort order: `"time"` or `"magnitude"`

Variables

Each earthquake feature includes:

Variable	Description
`mag`	Magnitude
`place`	Description of location
`time`	Event time (ms since epoch)
`depth`	Depth (km)
`felt`	Number of felt reports
`cdi`	Community Decimal Intensity
`mmi`	Modified Mercalli Intensity
`alert`	PAGER alert level
`sig`	Significance (0–1000)
`tsunami`	Tsunami association flag
`magType`	Magnitude type (ml, mb, mw, etc.)
`type`	Event type (earthquake, quarry blast, etc.)