USGS Earthquake Data Scraper

Extract real-time and historical earthquake data from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program FDSN Event Web Service API. No web scraping, no HTML parsing — pure API access to verified seismic event data with magnitude, location, depth, and impact metrics.

Use this Actor to build earthquake dashboards, real-time alert systems, research datasets, or risk assessment tools. Download all results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML.

What does USGS Earthquake Data Scraper do?

This Actor queries the USGS FDSN Event API — the official U.S. Geological Survey earthquake database — to retrieve earthquake events. You control the search with filters for:

• Magnitude range: Find earthquakes above a minimum magnitude threshold (e.g., 5.0+)
• Date range: Specify start and end dates (defaults to last 30 days)
• Result limit: Cap the number of results (up to 20,000)
• Sort order: Order by time (newest first) or magnitude (largest first)

Returns structured JSON records for each earthquake with:

Field	Type	Example
id	string	us7000m4bz
place	string	56 km SE of Adak, Alaska
magnitude	number	5.2
magnitudeType	string	mww
time	ISO 8601	2024-03-15T14:22:31.000Z
latitude	number	51.234
longitude	number	-176.432
depth	number	35.0 (km)
felt	number	12 (reports)
tsunami	number	0 or 1
alert	string	null, "yellow", "orange", "red"
significance	number	406
url	string	https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000m4bz

Why use USGS Earthquake Data Scraper?

• Official data source: Direct access to USGS earthquake data — the authoritative U.S. government seismic database
• No coding required: Configure filters in the Console — the Actor handles API calls, pagination, and data transformation
• Zero dependencies: No user authentication or API keys needed — public API
• Real-time availability: Data updates within minutes of earthquake detection
• Rich fields: Magnitude type, felt reports, tsunami warnings, alert levels — ready for analysis
• Scheduled runs: Set up hourly, daily, or weekly checks for new earthquakes
• API integrations: Pipe results to Slack, Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, or your database
• Export flexibility: Download as JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, or XML

Perfect for:

• Geoscience research and seismic analysis
• Insurance risk assessment and underwriting
• Emergency management and disaster response
• News automation and alert systems
• Educational dashboards and data visualization
• Climate science correlation studies

How to use USGS Earthquake Data Scraper

1. Open the Actor in the Apify Console
2. Set your filters:
   • Enter a minimum magnitude (e.g., 5.0 for strong earthquakes)
   • Optionally specify a date range (leave blank for last 30 days)
   • Choose sort order (time or magnitude)
3. Run — the Actor fetches data from USGS and saves it to a dataset
4. Download — export results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML

Input Parameters

Minimum Magnitude (required, default: 4.5)

• Earthquake magnitude on the Richter scale (0–10)
• Only earthquakes at or above this magnitude are returned
• Set to 5.0 or higher for fewer, more significant events

Start Date (optional)

• Date in YYYY-MM-DD format (e.g., 2024-01-15)
• Leave blank to default to 30 days ago

End Date (optional)

• Date in YYYY-MM-DD format (e.g., 2024-03-31)
• Leave blank to default to today

Max Results (optional, default: 200)

• Number of earthquake events to return (1–20,000)
• USGS API caps results at 20,000 per query

Order By (optional, default: time)

• time — newest events first
• time-asc — oldest events first
• magnitude — strongest earthquakes first
• magnitude-asc — weakest earthquakes first

Example Input

{
  "minMagnitude": 5.0,
  "startTime": "2024-01-01",
  "endTime": "2024-03-31",
  "limit": 50,
  "orderBy": "magnitude"
}

Output

The Actor saves earthquake records to a dataset. Each record is a JSON object with all fields above.

Sample Output

{
  "id": "us7000m4bz",
  "place": "56 km SE of Adak, Alaska",
  "magnitude": 5.2,
  "magnitudeType": "mww",
  "time": "2024-03-15T14:22:31.000Z",
  "updated": "2024-03-15T15:01:00.000Z",
  "latitude": 51.234,
  "longitude": -176.432,
  "depth": 35.0,
  "felt": 12,
  "tsunami": 0,
  "alert": null,
  "significance": 406,
  "type": "earthquake",
  "url": "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000m4bz"
}

You can download the dataset in multiple formats:

• JSON — for programmatic use
• CSV — for spreadsheets and analysis
• Excel — ready for business users
• HTML — for web publishing
• XML — for enterprise integration

Pricing

This Actor uses a pay-per-result model:

• Actor start: $0.00005 (one-time infrastructure cost per run)
• Per-result cost: $0.001 per earthquake record

Cost example:

• Fetching 200 earthquakes: ~$0.00025 in compute + (200 × $0.001) = $0.20 total
• Fetching 50 earthquakes: ~$0.00025 in compute + (50 × $0.001) = $0.05 total

USGS API calls are free — you only pay for Apify compute time and the per-result rate.

Optimization tips:

• Narrow your date range to reduce result volume
• Set a higher minimum magnitude (e.g., 6.0+) to fetch fewer events
• Use orderBy=magnitude and limit results to top earthquakes only
• Schedule weekly or monthly runs rather than daily to save costs

Advanced Options

Geographic Filtering (Future)

The USGS API supports geographic bounding boxes. Future versions may add latitude/longitude filters (minLat, maxLat, minLon, maxLon) to search only specific regions.

Custom Alert Triggers

Combine this Actor with Apify's Task and Webhook features to:

• Trigger alerts when earthquakes exceed magnitude 7.0
• Send notifications to Slack when events occur
• Update a live dashboard in real time

FAQ

Q: How current is the data? A: USGS updates earthquake data within minutes of detection. Most recent events appear in the API 5–15 minutes after occurrence.

Q: Can I get earthquakes older than 30 years? A: Yes — set a startTime from the 1900s onward. USGS maintains the full historical record. Large queries may take longer.

Q: Does this Actor scrape USGS websites? A: No. It uses the official USGS FDSN Web Service API — a direct, authorized data feed. No web scraping, no HTML parsing, no rate limit issues.

Q: Can I filter by location/region? A: The current version filters by magnitude and date. Future updates will add geographic bounding box support (latitude/longitude ranges).

Q: What's the difference between magnitude types (mww, mb, ml)? A: USGS reports multiple magnitude scales. mww (moment magnitude) is most common. See USGS magnitude docs for details.

Q: Can I schedule this to run automatically? A: Yes — use Apify Task Scheduling. Set it to run daily, weekly, or on a custom schedule to monitor new earthquakes.

Support & Feedback

Found a bug or have suggestions?

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Contact us for custom solutions or data requirements
• Join the Apify Community on Discord

Legal Disclaimer

This Actor accesses public, non-personal data from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program. USGS data is in the public domain and free to use. This Actor is provided "as is" without warranty. Earthquake data accuracy depends on USGS sensors and detection networks. For official earthquake information, visit earthquake.usgs.gov.

Resources

• USGS Earthquake Hazards Program
• FDSN Web Services API Documentation
• Apify Platform Documentation
• How to schedule Actors
• Apify Integrations