Ground shaking caused by the sudden release of accumulated strain by an abrupt shift of rock along a fracture in the earth or by volcanic or magmatic activity, or other sudden stress changes in the earth.
Information on earthquake activity, earthquake science, and earthquake hazard reduction with links to news reports, products and services, educational resources for teachers, glossary, and current U.S. earthquake activity map.
Answers to a wide variety of questions (FAQs) about earthquakes, such as dictionary of terms, earthquake activity and probabilities, common myths, faults, plate tectonics, and earthquake measurement techniques.
Search interface allowing searches of earthquake databases by various parameters including date, depth, intensity, area, and magnitude and download data in a variety of formats.
National seismic hazards maps, global seismic hazards map, predictive intensity maps, shaking hazards maps and probabilities for California, and a variety of fact sheets on earthquakes.
Place to provide information about ground shaking associated with significant earthquakes. A questionnaire to let us know what you felt following an earthquake in the United States or in other countries.
Links to various earthquake projects, facts, science fair ideas, earthquake science, becoming an earthquake scientist, image glossary, earthquake facts, and puzzles and games for children.
Lists of largest earthquakes in the world and in the United States, earthquake facts and statistics, deaths from earthquakes, earthquakes by magnitude, and significant earthquakes.
Online database of faults and associated folds in the United States that are believed to be sources of significant earthquakes during the last 1.6 million years.
Description of seismograms and how they are produced by drum recorders and electronic instruments with real-time seismograms for Northern California and Long Valley, California and representative seismograms for types of earthquake activity.
Online booklet giving an introduction to the concept of plate tectonics and complements the information on the map This Dynamic Planet published in 1994 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Smithsonian Institution.
Online booklet on earthquake history, earthquake occurrences, measuring earthquakes, causes, relationship of volcanoes and earthquakes and earthquake prediction.
Provides links to explanatory materials for the layperson, including information on concepts behind earthquake maps, the use of probability, what the maps mean, how they are made, and answers to frequently asked questions.
Provides detailed technical information on earthquake hazards in the form of frequently asked questions. Desisigned for the technical audience, including building and safety planners.
Information on earthquakes in central and eastern United States with links to earthquake monitoring, published products, recent earthquake information, discussion group, and current projects.
Home page for Northern California Earthquake Hazards Program with links to earthquake news, real-time earthquake and shaking maps, earthquake probabilities, latest earthquake information, hazards and preparedness, research and special features.
Site for the Southern California Earthquake Hazards Program with links to latest quake information, real-time earthquake maps and shaking maps, general information, hazards and preparedness, research, networks, and earthquakes for kids.
Collects a series of short articles on earthquake science and related topics for students, teachers, and parents originally published as weekly features in The San Francisco Chronicle.
Fact sheet on hazards from earthquakes and tsunamis in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to be downloaded as a PDF file or viewed as an Adobe Acrobat Reader file.
Information on earthquakes in central California and the San Francisco region with links to four types of field studies, deep seismic investigations, geotechnical investigations, shallow seismic imaging, and airborne geophysical surveys.
Description and photos documenting offsets and 260 km rupture in the Denali glacier in central Alaska after the November 3, 2002 earthquake, the 9th largest earthquake in the United States in the last 200 years.
Description of the seismic monitoring of the active Hawaiian volcanoes with information on the network, instrumentation, and recording stations with links to related information.
Real-time earthquake maps of the conterminous U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico displaying magnitude and location of earthquake activity in the past hour, past day, and past week.
Near-real-time maps of location, ground motion, and shaking intensity of earthquakes in California and Nevada for the past hour, past day, and past week and links to other earthquake information.
Information on world earthquake activity with links to facts and lists on large earthquakes, earthquake e-mail notification, hazards and preparedness, educational links, news and highlights and other seismic information.
Description of intensity and magnitude as indicators of the size of an earthquake and the levels of severity measured on the Richter Magnitude Scale and the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.
Fact sheet describing plans for a San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) by drilling into the fault to install instruments for long-term monitoring near the location of the magnitude 6 Parkfield earthquakes.
Annotated list of resources about the great earthquake of 1906, which caused significant devastation in and around San Francisco, California, compiled for the 100th anniversary of the disaster.
Homepage for tsunami research with links to information and images on basics, tsunamis in the Pacific Northwest, the 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami, research on specific tsunamis, and animations in various formats.
An organizational unit within USGS that studies earthquakes, landslides, and geomagnetism. Contact information and descriptions of current research projects.
News and related information about the importance of seven major types of natural hazards in the United States: earthquakes, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, landslides, volcanoes, and tsunamis.
Overview of the Long Valley Caldera with links to monitoring data including earthquakes and deformations, long-term outlook, volcano hazards in the area, USGS response plan, image gallery, monitoring and topical studies, publications and references.
A program of studies with instruments to provide accurate and timely data and information on seismic events, including their effects on buildings and structures, employing modern monitoring methods and technologies.
The USGS Seismological Laboratory in Albuquerque installs and maintains a world network of seismograph stations, collects the seismic data, and evaluates seismic instruments. Site includes links to ASL publications, earthquake maps and seismic data.
Photographic archive collection from the USGS Photo Library. Photos dated 1868-1992 are of geology, earthquake damage, national parks, pioneer photographers, St. Helens eruption and mining and available at 100, 700 and 1400 dots/inch resolution.
Study of the probability of a major earthquake in San Francisco Bay region with colored map and links to relevant publications. Text also available in PDF format and graphic available in Illustrator or Photoshop format.
Describes the monitoring effort and provides real-time data of the current restless activity of the caldera, including earthquakes, ground deformation, and release of volcanic gas and plus link to volcano monitoring techniques.
Homepage for a paleoseismic field study of the geologic record of prehistoric earthquakes in the Puget Lowland region to evaluate seismic hazards with links to an atlas and reports on historic earthquakes in the Washington and Oregon area.
Online booklet on the San Andreas fault system on the California coastal region with discussion of faults, relationship of faults and earthquakes, magnitude of earthquakes, and earthquake probability.
Homepage for the Southern California Integrated GPS Network (SCIGN) Pasadena Field Office involved in operating GPS stations, data recording, and supplying of earthquake data. Links to GPS data analysis, photos, and technical information.
The Ocean Bottom Seismometer facility provides technical support for a variety of scientific investigations ranging from deep crustal structure to gas hydrate and surface sediments.
National Strong-Motion Program home page with links to program news, recent events, and datasets of digitized accelerograms downloadable as PC (*.zip) and Unix (*.tar.z) files, data processing, stations, research, publications, and personnel.
Describes volcano monitoring at Yellowstone National Park including an update of recent volcanic activity, real-time data, and link to volcano monitoring techniques information.
Links to geologic information on western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon including information on coastal and marine geology, mineral resources, earthquakes, landslides, earthquake hazards and geologic maps.
Description and uses of the Ocean Bottom Seismometer; a self contained data-acquisition system which free falls to the ocean floor and records seismic data generated by airguns and earthquakes.