About Earthquake.Global

What This Site Is

Earthquake.Global is an independent site, built for education, that maps recent earthquakes as they are published: one map for the whole planet and one for each country it covers, in English and Spanish. It is made for the moment right after the ground moves, when you want to know whether it was an earthquake, how strong it was, where it started and how long ago.

The live world earthquake map is the place to start. We have no ties to any government, seismological agency or university.

Where the Data Comes From

Times, positions, depths and magnitudes come from the earthquake catalog of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which merges reports from seismic networks worldwide. The history tables draw on the same catalog for every magnitude 6 or larger event since 1900. Borders and town names are Natural Earth public-domain data, and the optional street view uses CARTO maps made from OpenStreetMap.

How the Live Maps Work

• Each newly published earthquake reaches the map within seconds.
• Events from magnitude 2.5 up are shown. Beyond the United States the catalog is most complete from roughly magnitude 4 to 4.5, so national agencies often list smaller events that are not here.
• Every earthquake is credited to the country it occurred in or, at sea, to the closest country within 300 km.
• Country pages keep that country's clock; the world and United States maps use the time zone of your device.
• First locations are computed automatically and may shift once a seismologist reviews them, and national agencies sometimes report a slightly different magnitude.
• Felt-area circles come from a published intensity model and are estimates: depth and ground conditions change what people actually feel.

Known Limitations

We report earthquakes after the fact. This is not a warning or alert system, and nobody can forecast the exact time, location or size of the next earthquake. During an emergency or a tsunami warning, rely on your civil protection agency and local officials.

Corrections and Contact

Found a mistake or want to suggest something? Write to info [at] earthquake.global and include the link to the page. Confirmed errors get fixed, and the page's review date moves when they do.