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SEISMOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY & DATA ARCHITECTURE

Scientific Methodology & Telemetry Architecture

How Earthquake.live ingests, validates, deduplicates, and analyzes seismic data across global monitoring networks in real time.

Data Ingestion & Aggregation

How earthquake records are fetched and processed.

Earthquake.live ingests real-time seismic feeds from the world's primary seismological networks:

USGS

United States Geological Survey

Continuous global GeoJSON feeds updated every minute, providing comprehensive global coverage and high-precision North American telemetry.

EMSC

Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre

European, Mediterranean, and global real-time event feeds providing rapid regional event verification and magnitude data.

JMA

Japan Meteorological Agency

Official real-time event feeds from JMA (bosai quake API) covering earthquakes across the Japanese archipelago and northwest Pacific.

Data Normalization

Extracting consistent parameters across multiple reporting agencies.

Raw feeds arrive in varying formats. Our ingestion pipeline normalizes every event into a structured record:

MAGNITUDERounded to 1 decimal place with source scale preservation (Mw, ML, mb).

COORDINATESWGS84 Latitude and Longitude decimal degrees.

FOCAL DEPTHCalculated in kilometers below the surface (absolute positive depth).

UTC TIMESTAMPExact event origin time and latest upstream update timestamp.

Magnitude Scales & Energy Release

Understanding logarithmic seismic measurements.

Earthquake magnitudes reported on Earthquake.live represent the values calculated by reporting agencies (primarily Moment Magnitude Mw, Local Magnitude ML, or Body-Wave mb).

Gutenberg-Richter Energy Relationlog₁₀(E) = 4.8 + 1.5 · M

Earthquake magnitude is logarithmic. Each whole unit step on the magnitude scale (+1.0) corresponds to approximately a 31.6× increase in released seismic energy and a 10× increase in ground motion amplitude:

MagnitudeClassificationEnergy Comparison

M 3.0 – 3.9

Minor

Often felt indoors, rarely causes damage.

M 4.0 – 4.9

Light

Noticeable shaking of items; minimal structural risk.

M 5.0 – 5.9

Moderate

~31.6× more energy than M4. Can cause damage to weak buildings.

M 6.0 – 6.9

Strong

~1,000× more energy than M4. Destructive across populated areas.

M 7.0+

Major / Great

~31,600× more energy than M4. Severe, widespread regional disaster.

Focal Depth Classification

Depth categories and their relationship to surface shaking.

< 70 km • Shallow

Highest shaking intensity at the surface. Less rock dampening between the rupture point and surface infrastructure.

70 – 300 km • Intermediate

Wider felt radius with lower peak ground acceleration at the epicenter due to crustal energy dissipation.

> 300 km • Deep

Originates in deep subduction slabs. Energy is widely dispersed, producing mild shaking over large continental areas.

Live Filtering & Regional Feeds

How data is organized and displayed on the website.

🗺️Real-Time Feed & Map:

Interactive vector map using MapLibre GL showing recent global tremors, categorized by depth and magnitude.

⚡Magnitude Thresholds:

Dedicated feeds for Magnitude 5.0+ (Moderate/Strong) and Magnitude 6.0+ (Major) events.

🌍Regional Pages:

Continuous monitoring for 24 seismically active countries and regions.

⏱️Today's Activity:

Summary of all global seismic events recorded in the rolling 24-hour window.

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Data Quality & Safety Notice

Earthquake magnitudes and locations displayed immediately after an event are preliminary automated estimates published by monitoring agencies (USGS / EMSC / JMA) and are subject to revision as duty seismologists review station data.

Earthquake.live is an informational monitoring tool. In emergency situations, always follow official instructions from your local civil protection and emergency management authorities.