Is there an earthquake right now?
The fastest answer is our live page for the last hour, or a check against your own location. This page explains what those answers mean, because "right now" is more complicated than it sounds when the thing you are querying takes minutes to become certain.
The most recent earthquakes we hold
- 0.75 km W of Cobb, CA
- 0.985 km NNW of Karluk, Alaska
- 1.212 km ENE of Fox, Alaska
- 1.910 km NNE of Pāhala, Hawaii
- 2.08 km WSW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 4.484 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
- 3.995 km SE of Akutan, Alaska
- 2.226 km S of Denali National Park, Alaska
Snapshot from the USGS catalogue · USGS · updated
Why a catalogue is never quite "now"
Between the rock breaking and a line appearing in a public feed, several things have to happen: seismic waves have to reach enough stations, software has to associate those arrivals into one event and solve for its location and size, and the result has to be published. For a well-recorded earthquake in California that takes about a minute. For a small event in a sparsely instrumented area it can take several.
So there is a window — call it ten minutes — in which "nothing in the catalogue" does not mean "nothing happened". Every honest answer to "is there an earthquake right now" has to account for that window, and most sites do not.
How QuakeIndex handles it
- We read the USGS feed every 30 seconds and publish an event page immediately, rendered on request rather than built, so there is no publishing delay on our side.
- Every event page shows both when USGS last changed the event and when we first saw it, so our own lag is visible on the page rather than claimed in a marketing line.
- The felt page gives three answers, not two: yes, nothing recorded yet (for short windows, where the reporting delay plausibly explains an empty result), and no (for windows long enough that a felt earthquake would be catalogued by now).
If you want to be told rather than to check
Checking a website is the wrong tool for the first ten seconds. For that you want earthquake early warning — ShakeAlert through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts, or the MyShake app, in California, Oregon and Washington. QuakeIndex does not issue warnings.
Where else to look
- The USGS latest earthquakes map — the source we read, and the authority for every value on this site.
- Our API, if you want to build something. Free, documented, and every response carries its own timestamp and source.
- Your own state or county, for whether recent activity is normal for where you live.
Sources
Last checked:
- Latest earthquakes — real-time feeds — USGS
- How quickly are earthquakes reported? — USGS
- ShakeAlert earthquake early warning — USGS and partners