Earthquake Catalog Scraper (USGS Data)

Export earthquakes from the public USGS earthquake catalog as JSON, CSV or Excel, or through the API. Each row is one event: time, magnitude, place, coordinates, depth, PAGER alert, tsunami flag and felt reports.

What does Earthquake Catalog Scraper do?

• Reads the USGS FDSN Event Web Service (earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1), the public USGS earthquake catalog search.
• Filters by date window, magnitude, depth, a circle (center + radius in km) or a latitude/longitude box, PAGER alert level and review status.
• Returns events newest first. No login, no API key.
• Only new events mode: with onlyNew on, each run returns only events your earlier runs (same stateKey) did not return. Good for scheduled hourly or daily feeds.

Input examples

• Last 7 days, magnitude 2.5+: {"daysBack": 7, "minMagnitude": "2.5", "maxItems": 20}
• Within 300 km of Los Angeles since a date: {"startDate": "2026-01-01", "latitude": "34.05", "longitude": "-118.24", "maxRadiusKm": "300"}
• Daily feed of magnitude 4.5+ worldwide: {"daysBack": 2, "minMagnitude": "4.5", "onlyNew": true, "stateKey": "m45-daily"}

Output example

{"rowType": "event", "eventId": "us7000tuif", "time": "2026-10-31T11:31:12.35Z", "magnitude": 5.0, "magType": "mww",
 "place": "196 km NW of Port-Olry, Vanuatu", "latitude": -13.9069, "longitude": 165.6759, "depthKm": 10.0,
 "eventType": "earthquake", "reviewStatus": "reviewed", "tsunami": false, "significance": 385, "alert": null,
 "eventUrl": "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000tuif", "status": "ok"}

Every row also carries credit (USGS credit line), sourceUrl and scrapedAt.

How much does it cost?

Pay per event: one charge per earthquake row plus a small run-start charge. Status rows (no results, nothing new, service error) are free. maxItems caps both rows and cost.

Limitations

• USGS answers at most 20,000 events per query. Wider windows stop at 20,000 with a free truncated status row; use a shorter window or a higher minimum magnitude.
• Recent events can be revised (magnitude, location, review status). Only-new mode tracks event ids, so a revised event is not returned again.
• Which small events appear depends on the contributing seismic networks; coverage of small magnitudes differs by region. Set a minimum magnitude for even coverage.
• This is a copy of public catalog data at run time, not a warning system. For alerts and safety decisions use USGS and local authority channels directly.

Data source and credit

Data: U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program. USGS-authored data is in the U.S. public domain; USGS asks for credit, so each row includes a credit line. This actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by USGS. Requests follow robots.txt, run one at a time and are spaced out.

FAQ

Do I need an API key or account at USGS? No.

Does it include personal data? No. Rows hold event facts only.

Can I schedule it? Yes. Use an Apify schedule with onlyNew on and a fixed stateKey.

Changelog

• 2026-10-31: First version.