Web Services

Earthquakes Web Services API Documentation

Input Parameters

parameter description type
country Country of event epicenter. string
enddate Latest origin time (in UTC) to include in search. Format: yyyy-mm-dd HH:mm:ss day/time
eventid preferred USGS event ID of earthquake (including network code). For example, an event ID of 37904927 and a network code of CI would be appended as CI37904927. Multiple event IDs can be listed as CI37904927,CI38043999. string
evname Name of event. Names typically contain a city or vicinity to the epicenter. Accepts wildcards. string
faulttype Faulting type. Options are nm(normal), rs(reverse), ss(strike-slip). string
format Format of output. Options are xml, json, or csv. string
lat For radius searches, latitude in degrees of the center. degrees
lon For radius searches, longitude in degrees of the center. degrees
maxlat Maximum latitude, inclusive upper bound of search range for latitude. degrees
maxlon Maximum longitude, inclusive upper bound of search range for longitude. degrees
minlat Minimum latitude, inclusive lower bound of search range for latitude. degrees
minlon Minimum longitude, inclusive lower bound of search range for longitude. degrees
maxmag Maximum magnitude, inclusive upper bound of search range for magnitude (Mw, Ml, Md, Mb, or Ms). float
minmag Minimum magnitude, inclusive lower bound of search range for magnitude (Mw, Ml, Md, Mb, or Ms). float
nodata If no data is returned by the service, return a 404 response rather than the default 204. integer
orderby Order of data output. Options are time(time descending), time-asc(time ascending), magnitude(magnitude descending), or magnitude-asc(magnitude ascending). string
rad For radius searches, distance in kilometers from the center. kilometers
startdate Earliest origin time (in UTC) to include in search. Format: yyyy-mm-dd HH:mm:ss day/time
state State, province, territory, or prefecture of epicenter (when available). string

Output Parameters

GeoJSON

object parameter description type
bbox bounding box of returned event data, 1st value is the minimum longitude among the returned events, 2nd is the minimum latitude, 3rd is minimum depth, 4th is maximum longitude, 5th is maximum latitude, and 6th is maximum depth. float
cesmd_id IQRID used by CESMD string
id preferred USGS event id string
geometry type Geometry type, usually Point. string
coordinates Longitude in degrees, latitude in degrees, depth in km. float
metadata api API version number string
count Count of events satisfying search critera. integer
status HTTP Response Code of the request. 200 when the query is successful. integer
title CESMD - Center for Engineering Strong Motion Data string
url URL given to API string
properties country country of event epicenter string
detail Details of event including magnitude, magnitude type, local time, and/or depth. string
faultType Faulting type (SS(strike-slip), RS(reverse), NM(normal)) string
mag Magnitude value float
magType Magnitude type (Mw, Ml, Md, Mb, or Ms) string
net Network code of solution. string
place Earthquake location relative to a nearby city or ocean. string
state State, province, territory, or prefecture of epicenter (when available). string
time Date and time of event in UTC time. string
title Earthquake title string
type Type of event, such as earthquake string

QuakeML

object parameter description type
cesmd_id IQRID used by CESMD string
creationInfo agencyID network code of event string
dataid USGS event id (including network) string
description type earthquake name string
text earthquake location string
eventid preferred USGS event id (not including network) string
eventsource Source of event origin information. string
magnitude mag magnitude value float
type magnitude type (Mw, Ml, Md, Mb, or Ms) string
origin time Date and time of event in UTC time. string
longitude longitude in degrees float
latitude latitude in degrees float
depth depth in km float
type type of event string