QuakeIndex API

Free, no key, no sign-up. Every response carries generated and source, and every event carries source_url pointing at its USGS event page — which is the record of authority for all of its values.

The same document is available as JSON at /api/?format=json, or by sending Accept: application/json.

Conventions

Timestamps are epoch milliseconds UTC, with an ISO 8601 string alongside.
Provenance is on every response, not in the documentation only.
Freshness: events are ingested from the USGS all_hour feed every 30 seconds.
No forecasts. Nothing in this API predicts anything. Method →

Rate limits

A fixed window per IP address. A fixed window can admit a burst at a window boundary; that is an accepted trade for a public read-only API and is stated here rather than hidden. Exceeding it returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header.

Endpoint	Limit
`/api/latest`	120 / 60 s
`/api/near`	60 / 60 s
`/api/felt`	60 / 60 s

`GET /api/latest`

The most recent events, newest first.

Parameter	Range	Default
`limit`	1–100	20
`min_magnitude`	float	none

{
  "generated": 1790399450000,
  "generated_iso": "2026-09-26T05:10:50.000Z",
  "source": "USGS",
  "count": 20,
  "events": [{
    "id": "ci41339287",
    "url": "https://quakeindex.com/quake/ci41339287/7-km-ene-of-anza-ca/",
    "time": 1790399215610,
    "time_iso": "2026-09-26T05:06:55.610Z",
    "magnitude": 0.52,
    "magnitude_type": "ml",
    "depth_km": 14.02,
    "latitude": 33.5815,
    "longitude": -116.607,
    "place": "7 km ENE of Anza, CA",
    "status": "automatic",
    "felt_reports": null,
    "reported_intensity": null,
    "measured_intensity": null,
    "impact_alert": null,
    "tsunami": false,
    "event_type": "earthquake",
    "indexed_by_quakeindex": false,
    "first_seen_by_quakeindex": 1790399418055,
    "source": "USGS",
    "source_url": "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ci41339287"
  }]
}

`GET /api/near`

Events within a radius of a point, newest first, each with distance_km.

Parameter	Range	Default
`lat`	−90…90, required	—
`lon`	−180…180, required	—
`km`	1–1000	50
`days`	1–365	30
`limit`	1–200	20
`min_magnitude`	float	none

truncated is true when the result hit limit, so a caller can tell a full page from a complete answer.

curl 'https://quakeindex.com/api/near?lat=37.77&lon=-122.42&km=80&days=7'

`GET /api/felt`

"Was that an earthquake?" for a point and a time window.

Parameter	Range	Default
`lat`	required, with `lon` — or give `state`	—
`lon`	required, with `lat` — or give `state`	—
`state`	two-letter US code, e.g. `CA`: asks about the whole state	—
`minutes`	5–180	60
`km`	10–500	150

answer is one of three values, and the middle one is the point of the endpoint:

yes — an earthquake was recorded that was large and close enough to be felt at this point: estimated intensity 2 or more on the Modified Mercalli scale (felt_rule says how). events holds only such quakes, each with estimated_intensity_mmi and felt_radius_km (how far from the epicentre it was feltable), strongest first. With state, an event counts when it is feltable at the nearest point of the state, and distance_km is from the epicentre to the state (0 inside it).
not_yet_reported — nothing feltable found, and the window is 30 minutes or less. A small earthquake can take several minutes to reach the USGS catalogue, so this is not the same as no. Anything that renders this as a negative is misusing it.
no — nothing found over a window long enough that a felt earthquake would normally be catalogued by now.

`GET /sitemap-quakes.xml`

Events from the last 48 hours whose own page is indexed: in the United States, magnitude 4.0 and above near a town or felt by anyone, 3.0 and above with 10 or more USGS felt reports, 2.5 and above with 50 or more, and 5.0 and above anywhere; elsewhere, 5.5 and above, or 4.5 and above that anyone reported feeling. Every other event is listed on its town, county and state pages.

Attribution

The earthquake data is USGS's and is public domain — cite USGS for it. For our computed figures (the activity score, the strips, the per-place statistics) please cite QuakeIndex and link to the page. See the terms.

Need a higher limit, or a bulk export? team at voittovirta.com.