Discover real natural events happening around our amazing planet right now!
Real-time earthquake data from NASA EONET and USGS — updated every 15 minutes
View on Globe →An earthquake happens when huge pieces of Earth's outer shell suddenly move. These pieces are called tectonic plates. When they get stuck and then slip, energy shoots through the ground and makes it shake — sometimes for just a few seconds, sometimes for a whole minute.
NASA and USGS satellites and sensor networks monitor the ground 24 hours a day. Within minutes of any significant quake, seismographs around the world record the event and scientists pinpoint its location, depth, and strength so emergency responders can act fast.
NASA doesn't operate seismographs, but it plays a crucial supporting role in earthquake science. The USGS Global Seismographic Network (GSN) — a partnership with NASA and universities worldwide — includes over 150 broadband stations on every continent, including Antarctica. These stations detect ground motion from earthquakes anywhere on Earth within minutes of an event.
NASA's Earth observation satellites add another layer of monitoring. Radar satellites such as Sentinel-1 and ALOS-2 use a technique called Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to measure how the ground shifts during a large earthquake — sometimes by metres — revealing the full extent of surface deformation even in remote, unpopulated areas.
EONET collects earthquake reports from the USGS and partner agencies worldwide and makes them available as a live, machine-readable feed. Earth Explorer pulls from both EONET and the USGS GeoJSON feed to display every significant earthquake as soon as it is reported.
Earth Explorer displays active earthquake events updated continuously from the USGS real-time feed. Every magnitude 4.5+ earthquake reported worldwide in the past 30 days appears as a glowing dot on the globe.
View Live Earthquake Events →Earthquakes are caused by the sudden movement of tectonic plates — the giant pieces of rock that make up Earth's outer shell. When two plates get stuck while moving past each other, stress builds up until they suddenly slip. That release of energy sends seismic waves through the ground that we feel as shaking.
About 90% of all earthquakes occur along tectonic plate boundaries. The "Ring of Fire" — a horseshoe-shaped zone around the Pacific Ocean — produces around 90% of the world's largest earthquakes. It runs through Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand, and the west coasts of North and South America.
Scientists use the moment magnitude scale (Mw). Each whole number up means about 32 times more energy is released. A magnitude 2 is barely felt; magnitude 5 can crack walls; magnitude 7 causes serious damage; magnitude 9+ is catastrophic and can generate tsunamis. The old Richter scale is no longer used by scientists.
Not yet. Scientists can identify high-risk zones based on fault lines and historical patterns, but precise short-term prediction — knowing exactly when and where a quake will strike — remains unsolved. Instead, scientists focus on early warning systems that give seconds to minutes of alert after a quake begins but before shaking reaches a given location.
Drop, Cover, and Hold On. Get under a sturdy table or desk, or crouch against an interior wall and protect your head and neck with your arms. Stay away from windows, bookcases, and heavy objects. If you are outside, move away from buildings and power lines. After shaking stops, watch for aftershocks.
Earth Explorer combines NASA EONET and the USGS real-time GeoJSON feed. Both sources report earthquakes within minutes of detection. The app filters to magnitude 4.5 and above — the threshold at which quakes are widely felt — and refreshes the data every 15 minutes so the globe always shows the latest activity.