Mt. St Helens seismicity, from PSNS catalog. Oblique view from north. Vertical scale 1:1. Click for full size. 		The GEON Integrated Data Viewer - Contents

INTRO                 Introducing the GEON IDV

INSTALL               Download & Run the GEON IDV

LEARN         How to Use the GEON IDV ... Bundles

DATA                   Geophysics Data Types and Sample IDV Displays

YOUR DATA         Data Formats for the IDV

EDUCATION         Ideas for using the IDV in Education

CONTACT             to get help with the IDV

Earthquake Hypocenter Data Sources for the GEON IDV


View from side of 500 Tonga region focal mechanisms and 2442 hypocenters.
(data courtesy GMT Project and IRIS DMC)

Data Sources

The IRIS Earthquake Browser
USGS "This Week's Earthquakes"
Engdahl and Villaseñor, Global Seismicity 1900-1999 "Centennial Catalog"
The USGS NEIC Worldwide Earthquake Search
USGS Earthquake Catalogs

How To:

Plot Your Hypocentral Data in the IDV
Your Data Formatted for IDV Use
Coloring Plot Symbols by Magnitude or other parameter values
Coloring Plot Symbols by Depth and Sized by Magnitude

The IRIS Earthquake Browser

IDV display of epicenters: click for large view

A great source of ready-to-use, up-to-date, earthquake location and magnitude data for the GEON IDV is the IRIS Earthquake Browser. The IRIS Earthquake catalog has more than 2,285,000 world-wide earthquake locations with depths and magnitudes. The Earthquake Browser uses a Google Maps web interface to the IRIS hypocenter catalog.

Open the IRIS Earthquake Browser in a new window. It uses a GoogleMap interface. Select an area of interest on the map, and optionally, how many hypocenters you want, and time and magnitude ranges. The Earthquake Browser finds the data that matches your search. A URL link to a NetCDF file is provided , at the "NetCDF" link in the top title bar, between "Table" and "XML."

To connect your IDV to the selected data at IRIS, do "copy link location" at the "NetCDF" and enter that in the Dashboard's Data Chooser URLs entry box . Before you click "Add Source" in the Data Chooser, set Data Type "netCDF Point Data files." Or, you can save a copy of the actual NetCDF data file on your computer with "Save link target" at the "NetCDF" link, and then load the file into the IDV with the Dashboard's Data Chooser Files entry box.

Data Source Author: IRIS Data Management Center

Original Data location online: IRIS Earthquake Browser

Data Source Publication: IRIS Data Management Center one-pager: "The IRIS Earthquake Browser"

Data Source Web Site: IRIS Earthquake Browser

IDV Data Source Data Type: "netCDF Point Data"

Format conversion for IDV use: none required; supplied as NetCDF

Sample data files made with the IRIS Earthquake Browser:

Here are links to some data source files (netCDF Point Data files) from the IRIS Earthquake Browser, with hypocenters and magnitudes. Copy the link location (URL) from a link below for a data source and paste it into the IDV's Data Chooser URLs entry box. Be sure to use Data Source Type of "netCDF Point Data" in the Dashboard's Data Chooser.

Cascadia, the 2500 most recent earthquakes

California region, the 200 largest earthquakes, 1964 to 2008

California region, 2500 recent events

Europe, 2500 most recent earthquakes (31 Mar 2009)

East Asia, 2500 larger events

"Ring of Fire," 2500 earthquakes, 0 to 33 km deep
"Ring of Fire," 3000 earthquakes, 34 to 99 km deep
"Ring of Fire," 5000 earthquakes, 100 to 900 km deep
New_Zealand_2000_most_recent_hypocenters_through_2007
Tonga_2000_largest_hypocenters_through_2007

Sample IDV Display:


Tonga region earthquakes, colored by depth. The NetCDF data file is from IRIS Earthquake Browser.
High angle viewpoint from southwest, plus volcanoes as white triangles.

USGS "This Week's Earthquakes" Data Source for the GEON IDV:

You can plot this week's earthquakes, including earthquakes in the last day, without loading any data source, using the IDV's main menu command "Displays -> Locations -> Earth -> Earthquakes." The IDV display controls let you change point symbols, colors, and plot density (cluttering) as usual.

The earthquake data is from the USGS, supplied by an Geo- RSS feed from the USGS.

The IDV label lists magnitude and a text location name; in the IDV display control's "Locations" tab you can see numerical details about each earthqauke. Click on a label in the IDV a display and the display will shift to center that earthquake.

Data Source Authors: US Geological Survey

Original Data location online: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/catalogs/eqs7day-M2.5.xml

Data Source Publication:

Data Source Web Site: Latest Earthquakes: Feeds & Data http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/catalogs/

Data Source IDV Data Type: GeoRSS formats. This is a geocoded RSS feed.

Format conversion for IDV use: no conversion


USGS This Week's earthquakes, magnitudes 2.5+, Oct. 4, 2008

Engdahl and Villaseñor, Global Seismicity 1900 - 1999 "Centennial Catalog"

A global catalog of 11912 earthquakes with locations and magnitudes, since 1900, "created with the purpose of giving a realistic picture of the seismicity distribution in the Earth. ... For recent years (1964 to the present) a cut-off magnitude of 5.5 has been chosen for the catalog, and the catalog is complete down to that threshold. For the period prior to 1964 (also referred to as "historical instrumental" or simply "historical" period) the cut-off considered is magnitude 6.5. Between the 1930's and 1963 the catalog is complete to te magnitude 6.5 threshold, but prior to that, the catalog is only complete down to magnitude 7.0."

A data file of the catalog for the IDV is online at http://geon.unavco.org/unavco/earthquakes/CentMagCatalog.nc (time in years only). Be sure to use Data Source Type of "NetCDF Point Data" in the Dashboard's Data Chooser.

Data Source Authors: Engdahl, E.R., and A. Villaseñor

Original Data location online: Centennial Earthquake Catalog

Data Source Publication: Engdahl, E.R., and A. Villaseñor,"Global Seismicity 1900 - 1999," in W.H.K. Lee, H. Kanamori, P.C.Jennings, and C.o Kisslinger (editors), International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, vol. 81 A, Chapter 41, pp. 665 - 690, Academic Press, 2002.

Data Source Web Site: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/data/centennial.php

Data Source IDV Data Type: NetCDF Point Data

Format conversion for IDV use: converted to NetCDF Point Data, by UNAVCO

Sample IDV Display:


Ring of Fire: Earthquakes and Volcanoes(black triangles)

The USGS NEIC Worldwide Earthquake search

The online data search and download tool is the USGS Earthquake Search. The data source is the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) of the USGS. The temporal extent of the data base extends from 2000 B.C. through the current week of the NEIC's Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE) program. The data was assembled over a period of several decades. Data are supplied in a variety of ASCII text formats.

Data Source Authors: US Geological Survey

Original Data location online: Earthquake search

Data Source Publication: Earthquake Data Base

Data Source Web Site: Earthquake search

Data Source IDV Data Type: IDV 'Text point data files'

Sample Data for the GEON IDV
(Format conversion for IDV use: reformatted as GEON IDV 'Text point data files' by UNAVCO)

You can use these .csv files as a template for your own hypocenter and magnitude data file for the IDV. Retain the top two header lines unaltered, and do not change column order.

Sample IDV Display:


North American earthquakes, 1973-2006, magnitudes 5+, colored by magnitude

USGS Earthquake Catalogs

A very complete web page listing more Earthquake Catalogs & Data is USGS Scientific Data - Earthquake Catalogs
(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/topics.php?areaID=13).

How to work with Earthquake Hypocenter data in the GEON IDV

Plot Your Hypocentral Data in the IDV

Copy the link URL for a data source and paste it into the IDV's Dashboard window, Data Chooser URLs entry box, or find a local data file's location in the Data Chooser's Files browser. For "csv" files (ascii point data format) be sure to use Data Source Type of "Text Point Data files" in the Dashboard's Data Chooser. For netCDF format files, use Data Source Type choose "netCDF Point Data Files" in the Dashboard's Data Chooser (Data Type "I'm Feeling Lucky" never works for point data).

Click on Add Source. The Field Selector panel appears. Then choose "Point Data" in Fields and click "Create display."

If your epicenters have different times, as usual, the first plot show only one symbol at one time. In the display control window for the plot, click Times tab, click on Multiple.

The initial plot is 'decluttered.' To reduce decluttering or see all quakes, in the display control window f or the plot, click Layout tab, and check off "Declutter:" (to see all quakes), or adjust the "Density" slider.

To change the plot symbol, change the "Layout model" choice. See the sections "Coloring Plot Symbols by Magnitude or other parameter values" and "Coloring Plot Symbols by Depth or Altitude and Sized by Parameter Magnitude" for more about "Layout Model" (plot configuration) in the IDV.

You may also be interested in sections in the How To about zoom, rotation, Display Legends and Controls, map controls and projections, vertical scale, and how to capture displays as images and movies.

Your Data Formatted for the IDV

Seismicity data can be put in a simple, self-explanatory, ASCII text format for IDV use. It is a comma-separated-value format or ".csv" file. Use this sample file as a template for your data. Note that values are separated by commas, and need not be vertically aligned.

Sample file - NEIC global epicenters, 1980-1989, magnitudes 6+ (1085 earthquakes)

See more details at Point Data in Text Format (CSV files) for the IDV.

Coloring Plot Symbols by Magnitude or other parameter values

To create plot symbols colored by parameter value, choosing the parameter value range and color table: 

In the main menu, choose Tools-Layout Model Editor

File-New

Enter "Layout Model Name"  such as "eqs mags 1 to 3.5"

Click on Shape in left side of the Layout Model Editor

Click in center of drawing area (white square)


Properties Dialog - Shape Symbol window appears

Choose Shape: Sphere (filled circle, square, triangle, etc., are flat 2D symbols unsuitable for 3D displays)

Click on "Color By" tab

Enter name of the variable in your data file to color by value in "Map Value of:"  such as m, val, magnitude, mb, or Ms

Enter "Data Range:" in the two boxes, such as 1.0 3.5. These are the limits of the color table; the scale is linear.

Set "Color Table" choice such as VisAD.

You may use the Scale Size tab to scale the plot symbol size by magnitude.

Click OK to finish the Properties Dialog - Shape Symbol window.


In white drawing area, move the symbol to the exact center, if not already there, with a mouse button one drag,
or (better) with a right button click on the symbol followed by menu choice center->center.

do File-Save; this creates and saves a new 'layout model' (plot configuration) called "eqs mags 1 to 3.5"

do File-Close to close the Layout model editor


After you connect to your epicenter data, the first plot probably uses the Location symbol, a cross. In the Display Control window for this
set of data, set "Layout Model:" to the name of your new layout model or symbol, such as "eqs mags 1 to 3.5"

To change properties of an existing layout model, open the layout model editor, choose the Layout Model from the list;
do a right mouse click on the plot symbol in the drawing area to see a menu, and choose Properties.

Coloring Plot Symbols by Depth or Altitude and Sized by Parameter Magnitude

To create plot symbols colored by depth and sized by magnitude: 

In the main menu, choose Tools-Layout Model Editor

File-New

Enter "Layout Model Name"  such as "crustal earthquakes"

Click on Shape in left side of the Layout Model Editor

Click in center of drawing area (white square)


The Properties Dialog - Shape Symbol window appears

Choose Shape: Sphere (filled circle, square, triangle, etc., are flat 2D symbols unsuitable for 3D displays)

In Color By tab, Map Value Into Color Table tab: 
Click at right end of "Map Value of:" entry box
to see
Current Fields->Point Data; click on Altitude.
Set "Data Range:" such as -30.0  0.0 in the  two boxes, and "kilometers" in the "Unit:" box.
(Depths below the surface are usually negative in IDV data, for right-handed cartesian coordinates.)
Set "Color Table" choice such as VisAD.

In the "Scale Size" tab: 
Enter your variable name, such as magnitude, for Scale By Parameter,
and for Data Range enter for example 1.0 4.5.
For "Scale By Factor:" enter, for example, 1.0 and 4.0. You will need to experiment to get the sizes right.

Click OK to finish the Properties Dialog - Shape Symbol window.


In white drawing area, move the symbol to the exact center, if not already there, with a mouse button one drag,
or (better) with a right button click on the symbol followed by menu choice center->center.

do File-Save; this creates and saves a new 'layout model' (plot configuration) called "crustal earthquakes."

do File-Close to close the Layout model editor.


After you connect to your epicenter data, the first plot probably shows the Location symbol, a cross. In the Display Control window for this 
set of data, set "Layout Model:" to the name of your new layout model or symbol, such as "crust earthquakes."

To change properties of an existing layout model, open the layout model editor, choose the Layout Model from the list;
do a right mouse click on the plot symbol in the drawing area to see a menu, and choose Properties.


Home | Overview | Data and Products | GEON IDV | Research | Education and Outreach