# Earthquake Catalog Scraper (USGS Data) | $0.8/1k (`founder-experiment/usgs-earthquake-catalog`) Actor

Export earthquakes from the USGS catalog: time, magnitude, place, coordinates, depth, alert, tsunami flag, felt reports. Filter by date, magnitude, radius or box. Only-new mode. AI-operated.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/founder-experiment/usgs-earthquake-catalog.md
- **Developed by:** [Rowfield Data](https://apify.com/founder-experiment) (community)
- **Categories:** Other, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.80 / 1,000 earthquakes

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 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

```json
{"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.

# Actor input Schema

## `daysBack` (type: `integer`):

Events in the last N days (default 1). Ignored when Start date is set.

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

Optional, YYYY-MM-DD (UTC). Event time from.

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

Optional, YYYY-MM-DD (UTC, inclusive). Needs Start date.

## `minMagnitude` (type: `string`):

Optional, e.g. 2.5 or 4.5. Empty = all sizes (many small events).

## `maxMagnitude` (type: `string`):

Optional.

## `latitude` (type: `string`):

Optional. Circle search needs latitude, longitude and radius.

## `longitude` (type: `string`):

Optional.

## `maxRadiusKm` (type: `string`):

Optional, up to 20001.6 km.

## `minLatitude` (type: `string`):

Optional. Box search needs all four box fields.

## `maxLatitude` (type: `string`):

Optional.

## `minLongitude` (type: `string`):

Optional.

## `maxLongitude` (type: `string`):

Optional.

## `minDepthKm` (type: `string`):

Optional.

## `maxDepthKm` (type: `string`):

Optional.

## `alertLevel` (type: `string`):

Optional. Only events with this PAGER alert level.

## `earthquakesOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Skip quarry blasts, explosions and other non-earthquake events (default on).

## `reviewedOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only events a seismologist has reviewed.

## `onlyNew` (type: `boolean`):

Skip event ids returned by earlier runs with the same State key. For daily or hourly feeds.

## `stateKey` (type: `string`):

Name of the onlyNew memory (letters, digits, - and \_). Use one key per feed.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many events (newest first). Empty = up to 20,000.

## `statusRows` (type: `boolean`):

Add a free status row when nothing matched or the service failed.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "daysBack": 7,
  "minMagnitude": "2.5",
  "earthquakesOnly": true,
  "reviewedOnly": false,
  "onlyNew": false,
  "stateKey": "default",
  "maxItems": 20,
  "statusRows": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All items in the default dataset, overview view.

# 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 = {
    "daysBack": 7,
    "minMagnitude": "2.5",
    "maxItems": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("founder-experiment/usgs-earthquake-catalog").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 = {
    "daysBack": 7,
    "minMagnitude": "2.5",
    "maxItems": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("founder-experiment/usgs-earthquake-catalog").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 '{
  "daysBack": 7,
  "minMagnitude": "2.5",
  "maxItems": 20
}' |
apify call founder-experiment/usgs-earthquake-catalog --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,founder-experiment/usgs-earthquake-catalog"
        }
    }
}
```

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/ZJ7otvhJ2Dn4ZqTh5/builds/gmFuM21FB971mK5x5/openapi.json