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The Earthquake Strong Motion Data catalog is the inventory of Accelerograph Record descriptions for the NGDC Earthquake Strong Motion Database. The data, which date from 1933 to 1994, are representative of a broad range of structural and geologic recording environments. Records were contributed to the archive from various industrial, academic, and governmental sources located around the world. NOTE: This database is static and is no longer being updated.
  • To display a subset of the Earthquake Strong Motion Data Catalog enter the information for one or more of the following search options and then click the Search Database button.
    • Click the Clear Form button for each additional search.
    • To retrieve the entire catalog, click the Clear Form button and the Search Database button at the bottom of this page. The file contains over 15,670 records and is approximately 5 MB.
    • NOTE: Do not use commas when entering numbers into the form.
  • To Import the resulting search into an MS Excel spreadsheet: Select Data Output Options - tab-delimited format (bottom of page)
All of the digitized strong motion data listed in the inventory are arranged into sets grouped by either triggering events or geographic regions. These sets are identified by a particular data set number (such as SM-USACA01 or SM-TAI04). Most of the data sets include three types of processed records: uncorrected (raw), corrected (filtered), and response spectra (includes Fourier spectra). Each data set is distributed with documentation containing (when available) information on the triggering earthquakes, recording stations, record processing procedures, and data format. These data were originally available on a three-volume CD collection. The contents of each volume are available for download. Use the results from the Catalog search to determine which datasets and files to download.
  • Volume 1: California records for 1933-1988, Montana, Nevada, and Washington records
  • Volume 2: California records for 1989-1994 and all other non-California USA records
  • Volume 3: Non-USA records
NOTE: Also check Other Sources of Earthquake Strong Motion Data and Information

Earthquake Parameters:

Date as a Year (1933 to 1994): Beginning: Ending:

Earthquake Name: includes or starts with matches or does not match

Country:

Magnitude (0.0 to 9.9): Minimum Maximum

Intensity(0 to 12): Minimum Maximum

Range of Earthquake Coordinates in decimal degrees:

Northernmost Latitude
(enter one number from -90 to 90):
Westernmost Longitude
(enter one number from -180 to 180):
 Easternmost Longitude
(enter one number from -180 to 180):
Southernmost Latitude
(enter one number from -90 to 90):

Station Location Parameters

Station Name: includes or starts with matches or does not match

U.S. State or Territory: Country:

Structure Type:

Floor Numbers (-1 is the Basement and 99 is the Roof): Lowest: Highest:

Site Geology:

Epicentral Distances (0-820 km): Minimum: Maximum:

Range of Station Coordinates in decimal degrees:

Northernmost Latitude
(enter one number from -90 to 90):
Westernmost Longitude
(enter one number from -180 to 180):
 Easternmost Longitude
(enter one number from -180 to 180):
Southernmost Latitude
(enter one number from -90 to 90):

Accelerograph Record Parameters:

Data Types: Uncorrected Corrected Response

Uncorrected Peak Acceleration (0-2300 cm/sec2): Minimum: Maximum:

Corrected Peak Acceleration (0-2350 cm/sec2): Minimum: Maximum:

Maximum Velocity (0-120 cm/sec): Minimum: Maximum:

Maximum Displacement (0-75 cm): Minimum: Maximum: