# USGS Earthquake Events Export and Monitor

> USGS earthquake data download by time, area, magnitude and depth. Get PAGER alert, tsunami flag and felt reports. Track new and revised quakes.

URL: https://cliqtomedia.com/actors/usgs-earthquake-events/

Category: Government & open data · Status: coming soon · Apify profile: https://apify.com/cliqtomedia?fpr=cliqto

Export earthquakes from the official USGS catalog with your own filters. Pick a box, a circle or the whole world. Run it again to see new and revised quakes.

## How to use it: 3 steps

1. **Follow us on Apify.** The tool is built and waits in the queue for the Apify Store. Apify is the cloud platform where our tools run.
2. **Paste your input and press Start.** No code needed: you fill in a form (the input). It already has a working example. For example: `earthquake` in Event types. Each start is one run.
3. **Download the results.** When the run ends, the results are in a table (the dataset). Open Output, press Export and pick Excel or CSV. JSON and the API are there too.

## What it does

USGS Earthquake Events Export & Monitor exports earthquakes from the official USGS ComCat catalog by time window, area (a rectangle, also across the date line, or a circle), magnitude, depth, event type, review status and PAGER alert. You get one clean row per event with time, coordinates, depth, magnitude and its type, place, status, tsunami flag, felt reports, intensity, PAGER alert and USGS links.

- Clean rows. One row per event: `eventId`, `time`, `updated`, `latitude`, `longitude`, `depthKm`, `magnitude`, `magType`, `place`, `status`, `tsunamiFlag`, `felt`, `cdi`, `mmi`, `alert`, `significance` and links. Values stay as USGS publishes them; depth is not rounded.
- Any area. The whole world by default, a latitude/longitude rectangle (west greater than east means it crosses the date line, for example Fiji and Tonga), or a circle around a point.
- No silent cut. When more events match than `maxResults`, the run says so and, when the source answers in time, how many events match in total.
- Monitoring. With a `monitorKey`, the Actor saves the events it saw in your account. The next run marks each event `new`, `revised` (with `changedFields` and `previousValues`, for example a new magnitude or a reviewed status), `deleted` or `unchanged`, and by default writes only the changes.
- Long windows. Windows of months or years work: the Actor first reads narrow slices next to the end you sort by, and splits a window in half when USGS is overloaded.

### Good for

- A daily or weekly table of significant earthquakes for a newsroom, a blog or a dashboard.
- Earthquakes near your sites, cities or assets: a circle with `radiusKm` or a rectangle.
- History for research or teaching: years of M6+ events, the largest events in a region, or the oldest first.
- A feed of what changed since your last run: new events, magnitude or location revisions, reviewed status and deletions.
- Earthquake rows for a spreadsheet, BI tool, webhook or AI agent.

### Not a good fit

- Real-time alerts or warnings. Use the official USGS ENS service, tsunami warning centers or local systems.
- Earthquake forecasts or damage estimates beyond the PAGER alert level that USGS publishes.
- A full copy of the catalog. A run returns up to 500 events. For bulk downloads, use the USGS catalog search directly.
- ShakeMap, moment tensor or other product files. Rows link to them with `detailUrl`.

## Price

Prices will be shown after release.

## Questions

### Is this an earthquake warning service?

No. It exports the USGS catalog. Follow local authorities for safety.

### Why did a magnitude change?

The first value is automatic. Experts review it later and may change it.

### Does the tsunami flag mean a tsunami happened?

No. It only means USGS links tsunami center information.

### Do I need an API key?

No. The USGS service is public.

### Where does the data come from?

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program: the ComCat catalog through the FDSN Event Web Service. Each run reads it live.

### Does `tsunamiFlag: true` mean there was a tsunami?

No. It only means that USGS links tsunami center information for the event. Check official tsunami warning centers.

### Does monitoring cost more?

No. Unchanged events are not written and not charged when `onlyChanges` is on.

## Data fields

- `eventId` (string): Preferred ComCat event ID, e.g. us6000u1n6. Can change when networks merge solutions; allIds keeps the others.
- `allIds` (array): Every ComCat ID of this event from contributing networks. Use it to deduplicate across runs.
- `time` (string): Origin time, ISO 8601 UTC.
- `updated` (string): When the event was last updated at the source, ISO 8601 UTC.
- `latitude` (number): Epicenter latitude, degrees.
- `longitude` (number): Epicenter longitude, degrees, always -180..180.
- `depthKm` (number): Hypocenter depth in kilometres (positive down).
- `magnitude` (number): Preferred magnitude; null for the rare events without one.
- `magType` (string): Magnitude type, e.g. mww, mb, ml, md.
- `place` (string): Nearby place description from the source, e.g. "85 km SE of Hachijo, Japan".
- `title` (string): Source title, e.g. "M 5.1 - 85 km SE of Hachijo, Japan".
- `eventType` (string): Event type, e.g. earthquake, quarry blast, explosion.
- `status` (string): automatic (preliminary), reviewed (checked by a seismologist) or deleted.
- `tsunamiFlag` (boolean): True when the event is in an oceanic region large enough that USGS links tsunami center information. Not a tsunami warning.
- `felt` (integer): Number of "Did You Feel It?" reports.
- `cdi` (number): Maximum reported intensity from "Did You Feel It?" (CDI).
- `mmi` (number): Maximum estimated instrumental intensity from ShakeMap (MMI).
- `alert` (string): PAGER estimated-impact alert level; null when no PAGER estimate exists.
- `significance` (integer): USGS significance score (0–1000+), combining magnitude, felt reports and impact.
- `network` (string): Network that contributed the preferred solution, e.g. us, ci, ak.
- `sources` (array): Networks that contributed information.
- `stationCount` (integer): Number of seismic stations used to locate the event.
- `azimuthalGapDeg` (number): Largest azimuthal gap between stations, degrees; smaller means a better-constrained location.
- `url` (string): USGS event page.
- `detailUrl` (string): USGS GeoJSON detail feed for this event (products such as ShakeMap and moment tensor).
- `changeType` (string): Change since the baseline: initial (first monitored run), new, revised, deleted or unchanged. null in a plain export without monitorKey/previousDatasetId.
- `changedFields` (array): For revised or deleted events: which tracked fields changed (eventId, time, latitude, longitude, depthKm, magnitude, magType, place, eventType, status, tsunamiFlag, felt, cdi, mmi, alert).
- `previousValues` (object): For revised or deleted events: previous value of each changed field.
- `provider` (string): Data source.
- `fetchedAt` (string): When this run read the source, ISO 8601 UTC.

## Input settings

- `lastDays` (integer): Time window ending now (or at endTime). Ignored when startTime is set. Default: 7 days.
- `startTime` (string): Optional window start: a date like 2026-10-01 (00:00 UTC) or a UTC time like 2026-10-01T06:00:00Z. A time without offset is UTC.
- `endTime` (string): Optional window end, same format as startTime. Default: now.
- `minMagnitude` (number): Smallest magnitude to include. Default 4.5 (felt worldwide news-level events). Lower values return many more small events. Via API, null means no limit, which also includes the few events without a magnitude.
- `maxMagnitude` (number): Largest magnitude to include. Default: no limit.
- `minDepthKm` (number): Shallowest hypocenter depth in kilometres. Negative depths are above sea level. Default: no limit.
- `maxDepthKm` (number): Deepest hypocenter depth in kilometres. Default: no limit.
- `eventTypes` (array): Which seismic event types to include. Default: earthquake only (quarry blasts, explosions and other events excluded). Clear the list to include every type.
- `alertLevel` (string): Only events with this USGS PAGER estimated-impact alert level. Most events have no PAGER alert, so this filter returns few rows. Default: any (no PAGER filter).
- `reviewStatus` (string): Automatic solutions are preliminary and change more often; reviewed ones are checked by seismologists. Default: all.
- `minLatitude` (number): South edge of a rectangle (-90..90). Leave all area fields empty to search the whole world.
- `maxLatitude` (number): North edge of the rectangle.
- `minLongitude` (number): West edge (-180..180). If west is greater than east, e.g. 170 and -170, the rectangle crosses the date line (antimeridian) and covers Fiji/Tonga-style regions correctly.
- `maxLongitude` (number): East edge (-180..180).
- `latitude` (number): Center of a circle search. Use either the rectangle or the circle, not both.
- `longitude` (number): Center longitude of the circle.
- `radiusKm` (number): Circle radius in kilometres (up to 20001).
- `sortBy` (string): Order of results; with maxResults it decides which events are kept when more match.
- `maxResults` (integer): Maximum event rows per run (1–500). When more events match, the run says how many exist at the source instead of silently cutting them. Default: 100.
- `monitorKey` (string): Any name, e.g. japan-m5. Runs with the same key compare against the previous run and mark events new, revised, deleted or unchanged. The snapshot is kept in your account in the named key-value store usgs-earthquake-events-monitor.
- `previousDatasetId` (string): Alternative to monitorKey: the ID of the dataset of an earlier run of this Actor (for example the run's defaultDatasetId). The run compares against its event rows.
- `onlyChanges` (boolean): In change monitoring, write only new, revised and deleted events (unchanged ones are counted in the run summary, not charged). Turn off to get every matching event with its change type.

## Step by step on Apify

1. Open the Input tab. The form already has an example: the whole world, magnitude 4.5 and up, last 7 days, up to 200 events.
2. Click Start.
3. Open the Events view in the Output tab. Check `time`, `magnitude`, `place`, `depthKm` and `alert`.
4. Change the area, magnitude or time window to your own. To get only changes next time, add a `monitorKey` such as `japan-m5`.

## Use cases

| Task | Input | Key fields | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly world M4.5+ list | `lastDays: 7`, `minMagnitude: 4.5` | `time`, `magnitude`, `place`, `alert` | Google Sheets, a newsletter, a dashboard |
| Earthquakes near a site | `latitude`, `longitude`, `radiusKm` | `time`, `magnitude`, `depthKm`, `felt`, `mmi` | Risk or facility monitoring |
| Changes since the last run | `monitorKey` on a schedule | `changeType`, `changedFields`, `previousValues` | Slack, email or a webhook |
| Largest events of a decade | `startTime`, `sortBy: "largest"` | `magnitude`, `magType`, `place`, `tsunamiFlag` | Research, teaching, charts |
| Pacific date-line region | `minLongitude: 170`, `maxLongitude: -170` | `latitude`, `longitude`, `place` | Maps and GIS |

## Tips

- Use a circle around a point to watch one site.
- Near Fiji or Tonga? Set west larger than east to cross the date line.
- Use a monitor key to see when a magnitude or depth changes.

## Limits



- Up to 500 events per run. When more match, the run reports `truncated: true`, the total when USGS counts it in time, and a hint. USGS itself refuses lists of more than 20,000 events, so split very large exports into several runs by time.
- Time windows up to 3660 days (about 10 years), with `lastDays` or with `startTime`/`endTime`. For older history, use several runs. Long windows are read in narrow slices first; in our tests 10-year windows finished in 18–45 seconds. The internal time budget is 270 seconds.
- If USGS times out or answers 5xx, a window of 12 hours or more is split in half and read again. The run then skips the total count.
- A monitor baseline (the `monitorKey` snapshot or the `previousDatasetId` rows) has a safety cap of 20,000 events. We tested baselines of up to 500 events.
- Deletions are checked only in monitoring and only for windows up to 31 days.
- ComCat updates events after they happen: automatic solutions are revised, magnitudes change, events are merged (the preferred `eventId` can change) or deleted. Small events outside the U.S. are often not in ComCat at all.

## Sample result

```json
{
  "eventId": "us6000u1rh",
  "allIds": ["usauto6000u1rh", "us6000u1rh"],
  "time": "2026-10-12T11:28:43.398Z",
  "updated": "2026-10-12T12:43:51.836Z",
  "latitude": -8.873,
  "longitude": 67.3909,
  "depthKm": 10,
  "magnitude": 5.4,
  "magType": "mww",
  "place": "Mid-Indian Ridge",
  "eventType": "earthquake",
  "status": "reviewed",
  "tsunamiFlag": false,
  "felt": null,
  "cdi": null,
  "mmi": 0,
  "alert": "green",
  "significance": 449,
  "url": "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000u1rh",
  "changeType": null,
  "fetchedAt": "2026-10-12T13:14:24.199Z"
}
```

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