U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2006–3050

September 2012 (revised)

Earthquake Information Products and Tools from the 

Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS)

Printed on recycled paper

ANSS Products and Tools

The ANSS now provides postearthquake decisionmaking tools and routinely disseminates information 

to users who have a need for near real-time earthquake 

analysis.

This list is not intended to be a comprehensive 

treatment of ANSS postearthquake products. Rather 

it is a summary of ongoing developments deemed of 

interest to the public, the media, and those responding to earthquakes, be it from the critical lifeline, 

utility, government, emergency response, emergency 

coordination, recovery, planning, business continuity, 

and other relevant communities.

Following are tools recommended for various 

types of user categories. For each category, see the 

URLs associated with each of the products portrayed on the back of this information sheet for more 

detailed information.

Earthquake Information User Categories:

General Public and Media

Latest Earthquakes

Earthquake Notification Service (ENS)

Real-time Feeds and Data

Did You Feel It?

ShakeMaps

Seismogram Displays

Emergency Responders and Managers, Disaster 

and Business Continuity Planners and Coordinators

Earthquake Notification Service (ENS)

Real-time Feeds and Data

ShakeMap

CISN (California Integrated Seismic Network)

Display

Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes

for Response (PAGER)

Critical Lifeline and Utility Operators

All of the above, plus ShakeCast

This Fact Sheet provides a brief description of 

postearthquake tools and products provided by ANSS 

through the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake 

Hazards Program. The focus is on products 

specifically aimed at providing situational awareness in the period immediately following significant 

earthquake events.

ANSS Background

The Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) 

is a partnership of the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS), academia, other government agencies, and 

industry that monitors earthquakes in the United 

States and collects seismic data. Since its inception 

in 2000, funding has provided for the installation of 

more than 700 new seismic stations to collect highquality seismic data to serve the needs of the emergency management and response, engineering, and 

scientific communities.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) has estimated the annualized earthquake 

losses in the United States to be $5.6 billion per year, 

with a single earthquake potentially causing losses 

greater than $100 billion. Such losses can be mitigated by using information from seismic monitoring 

to effectively focus resources in regions of significant 

risk, to perform seismic rehabilitation, to improve 

the overall performance of earthquake engineering 

designs, and to plan for the response to hazardous 

events.

In addition to these basic and fundamental scientific and hazard monitoring roles, a modern seismic 

system is vital for providing timely and accurate 

information about earthquake activity and earthquake 

effects, and for reducing loss of life and property 

from earthquake disasters. Rapid dissemination of 

postearthquake information about shaking effects 

can promote situational awareness, benefiting residents of seismically active regions by allowing rapid 

mobilization of emergency response, at the level 

appropriate for the need.
ANSS Earthquake Information Products and Tools

Info by Region

Pick a State or a country and find out

about historical earthquakes, seismic 

hazard, local agencies, and more.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

earthquakes/region.php

Latest Earthquakes

Maps and information for United

States and worldwide earthquakes

within minutes after they occur.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

earthquakes/map/

ShakeMaps

Distribution of shaking intensity

from an earthquake anywhere in

the world within minutes.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

shakemap/

ShakeCast

Automated ShakeMap delivery,

damage assessment, and notification

for critical lifeline operators.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/

software/shakecast/

Real-time Feeds and Data

Real-time earthquake data in a

variety of formats including RSS,

CAP, CSV, and KML.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

earthquakes/feed/

Earthquake Data

Catalog search, recent and historic

earthquake archive, “Top 10” lists,

scientific data, and so on.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

earthquakes/eqarchives/

Earthquake Notification

Service (ENS)

Customizable earthquake information

automatically sent to your wireless

device or email account.

https://sslearthquake.usgs.gov/ens/

PAGER

Estimates of population exposure,

fatalities, and impact on infrastructure 

to significant earthquake shaking

anywhere in the world within minutes.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/pager/

Did You Feel It?

Citizen-science webpage where

shaking intensity maps are created

by the people who felt the earthquake.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/dyfi/

CISN Display

Downloadable software to visualize

and receive notifications for seismicity

anywhere in the world on your computer.

http://www.cisn.org/software/

cisndisplay.html

NetQuakes

Urban area seismic network instruments

hosted by volunteers to provide dense

ground motion data for various studies.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

monitoring/netquakes/

Earthquake Summary Posters

Posters created quickly after a significant

earthquake with images and text about

the seismic background of the area.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

earthquakes/eqarchives/poster/

Contact Information: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/contactus/