# Earthquake Shaking at Your Sites: MMI, PGA, PGV (USGS ShakeMap) (`bigsky-data-tools/earthquake-shaking-at-sites-shakemap`) Actor

How hard each of your sites shook, not just where the quake was: MMI, PGA, PGV and PSA interpolated from the USGS ShakeMap grid for up to 5,000 sites per run. Auto search or USGS event IDs, minimum-MMI alerts, PAGER and event context.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/bigsky-data-tools/earthquake-shaking-at-sites-shakemap.md
- **Developed by:** [BigSky Data Tools](https://apify.com/bigsky-data-tools) (community)
- **Categories:** Real estate
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Earthquake Shaking at Your Sites (MMI, PGA & PGV): data from USGS ShakeMap

Enter your **sites (latitude, longitude)** and get the **modeled earthquake shaking at each one**: **MMI intensity, peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV) and spectral acceleration (0.3 s, 1.0 s, 3.0 s)**, interpolated from the **USGS ShakeMap** grid of each earthquake. Check **recent quakes near your sites** automatically, or **specific events by USGS ID**. Works **worldwide**, **no API key, no login**. Published by BigSky Data Tools.

> **NOT FOR SAFETY-CRITICAL USE: data may be delayed or incomplete; not for life-safety, navigation or emergency decisions; use official USGS sources and local officials.**

Most earthquake tools return a list of quakes and a distance. This one answers the question that matters after a quake: **how hard did the ground shake at my building, store, plant, policy or supplier?**

### Why use it?

- 📍 **Per-site shaking**, not just epicenter distance: MMI (I-X), perceived shaking and potential damage labels, PGA %g, PGV cm/s, PSA, Vs30.
- 🏢 **Portfolio scale**: up to 5,000 sites per run, as "lat,lon,name" strings or JSON objects with your own IDs.
- 🔎 **Two modes**: automatic search (dates, minimum magnitude, radius around your sites) or a list of USGS event IDs (historical events back to the ShakeMap archive).
- 🚨 **Threshold filter**: `minMmi` keeps only sites with meaningful shaking (e.g. MMI 6+) for scheduled screening; not an alert or warning service.
- 🧾 **Event context**: magnitude, depth, time, place, PAGER alert, ShakeMap version and review status, USGS links.

### How it compares

In our Apify Store search on 2026-10-31 we did not find another Actor offering all of the features marked **Yes** below together; some alternatives offer individual features, as the "Typical alternatives" column shows. The Store may have changed since.

| | This tool | Typical alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Shaking at your own sites | **Yes: MMI, PGA, PGV, PSA, Vs30** | Event lists or one event-level intensity |
| Sites per run | **Up to 5,000** | n/a |
| Minimum-MMI alert filter | **Yes** | No |
| Historical events by USGS ID | **Yes** | Varies |

### Who uses it

Property and casualty insurers (exposure), reinsurance and cat-modeling analysts, REITs and facility managers, supply-chain and business-continuity teams, utilities and pipeline operators, lenders and engineers, for screening and planning, not emergency response.

### Input example

```json
{ "sites": ["35.6225,-117.6709,Ridgecrest CA", "34.05,-118.25,Los Angeles", {"id": "wh-01", "name": "Reno NV warehouse", "latitude": 39.53, "longitude": -119.81}],
  "eventIds": ["ci38457511"] }
```

Daily watch of the last 30 days: `{ "sites": [...], "minMagnitude": 4.5, "searchRadiusKm": 300, "minMmi": 5 }`

### Output example

```json
{ "siteId": "Ridgecrest CA", "siteName": "Ridgecrest CA", "siteLatitude": 35.6225, "siteLongitude": -117.6709,
  "eventId": "ci38457511", "eventTime": "2019-07-06T03:19:53.040000Z", "magnitude": 7.1, "magnitudeType": "mw", "place": "Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence",
  "depthKm": 8.0, "distanceKm": 17.6, "mmi": 7.19, "mmiRoman": "VII", "perceivedShaking": "Very strong", "potentialDamage": "Moderate",
  "pgaPctG": 38.92, "pgvCmS": 31.68, "psa03PctG": 68.19, "psa10PctG": 35.88, "psa30PctG": 8.15, "vs30MS": 260.0,
  "eventMaxMmi": 8.73, "pagerAlert": "yellow", "shakemapVersion": "1", "shakemapStatus": "automatic",
  "eventUrl": "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ci38457511", "source": "USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, ShakeMap (U.S. government work)" }
```

Export to JSON, CSV, Excel or XML, or use the Apify API, Make, Zapier or n8n. Schedule it daily with `minMmi` to screen for sites above your shaking threshold (screening only, not an alert service).

### Pricing

**$7 per 1,000 results** ($0.007 per result) plus a $0.01 start fee per run.

Pay per result: you pay for each saved row. One row = one site inside the ShakeMap of one earthquake. Sites outside every ShakeMap cost nothing. Duplicate sites (same ID and coordinates) are removed with a warning, so they are not charged twice. Example: 200 sites, 3 nearby quakes, 40 sites inside the maps = 40 rows. Free-plan users can try it within their monthly platform credit.

### FAQ

**Where does the data come from?** From the public USGS earthquake catalog (FDSN event service) and the ShakeMap grid.xml product of each event. Source data are works of the U.S. federal government (U.S. Geological Survey) and generally not subject to U.S. copyright (17 U.S.C. 105). This is not a license or warranty; third-party or foreign rights may apply, including for data from contributing seismic networks. You are responsible for how you use the data.
**How accurate is the value at my site?** ShakeMap combines recorded station data with ground-motion models and site conditions; values are estimates on a grid of roughly 1 km, bilinearly interpolated at your coordinates. Early "automatic" versions are updated as more data arrive; re-run later for the latest version. USGS notes that "ShakeMap intensity estimates are uncertain and could underestimate shaking at the point because of local site conditions" (https://earthquake.usgs.gov/ens/help_region).
**Why did a quake near me return nothing?** Your site may be outside its ShakeMap extent, below your `minMmi`, or the quake may be below `minMagnitude` or outside `searchRadiusKm`.
**Why is a value empty?** Not every ShakeMap has every layer; older or automatic versions often lack some spectral periods (e.g. PSA 0.6 s). Each row's `layerNote` names every empty field, e.g. `psa06PctG: this ShakeMap version has no PSA06 layer` or `pagerAlert: USGS lists no PAGER alert level for this event`. It is null when nothing is empty.
**Is this engineering or insurance advice?** No. It reports USGS model estimates for screening and triage only.
**Is this tool run by the data agency?** No. BigSky Data Tools is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by the USGS.

**Is the data guaranteed?** No. The tool and data are provided as is, without warranty of accuracy, completeness or timeliness, and values can differ from USGS's official products.

# Actor input Schema

## `sites` (type: `array`):

Your locations. Each item is either a string "latitude,longitude,name" or an object {"id", "name", "latitude", "longitude"}. Up to 5,000 sites.

## `eventIds` (type: `array`):

Check specific earthquakes by USGS event ID (e.g. ci38457511 for the 2019 Ridgecrest M7.1). When set, the date and magnitude search is skipped.

## `startDate` (type: `string`):

Search earthquakes from this date (YYYY-MM-DD, UTC). Default: 30 days ago.

## `endDate` (type: `string`):

Search earthquakes up to this date (YYYY-MM-DD, UTC). Default: now.

## `minMagnitude` (type: `number`):

Only earthquakes at or above this magnitude. ShakeMaps exist for most M3.5+ quakes in the US and most M4.5+ worldwide.

## `searchRadiusKm` (type: `integer`):

Only earthquakes whose epicenter is within this distance of at least one site.

## `minMmi` (type: `number`):

Only save site rows with modeled intensity at or above this value (e.g. 5 = moderate shaking, 6 = strong shaking with light damage possible). 0 saves every site inside the ShakeMap.

## `maxEvents` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of earthquakes to check (newest first).

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of site rows to save (each row is one site for one earthquake).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "sites": [
    "35.6225,-117.6709,Ridgecrest CA",
    "34.05,-118.25,Los Angeles",
    {
      "id": "wh-01",
      "name": "Reno NV warehouse",
      "latitude": 39.53,
      "longitude": -119.81
    }
  ],
  "eventIds": [
    "ci38457511"
  ],
  "minMagnitude": 4.5,
  "searchRadiusKm": 300,
  "minMmi": 0,
  "maxEvents": 25,
  "maxResults": 10000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Default dataset containing all output records

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "sites": [
        "35.6225,-117.6709,Ridgecrest CA",
        "34.05,-118.25,Los Angeles",
        {
            "id": "wh-01",
            "name": "Reno NV warehouse",
            "latitude": 39.53,
            "longitude": -119.81
        }
    ],
    "eventIds": [
        "ci38457511"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("bigsky-data-tools/earthquake-shaking-at-sites-shakemap").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "sites": [
        "35.6225,-117.6709,Ridgecrest CA",
        "34.05,-118.25,Los Angeles",
        {
            "id": "wh-01",
            "name": "Reno NV warehouse",
            "latitude": 39.53,
            "longitude": -119.81,
        },
    ],
    "eventIds": ["ci38457511"],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("bigsky-data-tools/earthquake-shaking-at-sites-shakemap").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "sites": [
    "35.6225,-117.6709,Ridgecrest CA",
    "34.05,-118.25,Los Angeles",
    {
      "id": "wh-01",
      "name": "Reno NV warehouse",
      "latitude": 39.53,
      "longitude": -119.81
    }
  ],
  "eventIds": [
    "ci38457511"
  ]
}' |
apify call bigsky-data-tools/earthquake-shaking-at-sites-shakemap --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,bigsky-data-tools/earthquake-shaking-at-sites-shakemap"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/JmPBtzgOlczsk0vQx/builds/ou4RvK9gSv3YMppsx/openapi.json