Live instrument · geospatial
A real map, pulling a real feed. Every marker below is a seismic event the USGS published in the window you selected, plotted on open map tiles. Nothing here is cached or faked — your browser queries the government feed directly, which is why it says "Live" or tells you it failed.
Circle size scales with magnitude; colour deepens from green (small) to red (large). Click a marker for place, magnitude, depth, and time. Source feed: USGS Earthquake Catalog API (open, no key). Tiles: OpenStreetMap contributors.
The feed above is the one we wired in because it is open, keyless, and real-time. The rest are worth knowing. Status is from an actual check on 2026-10-13, not a promise.
| Tool | What it's for | Cost | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| USGS Earthquake Mapearthquake.usgs.gov | The source of the feed above, with a full interactive map, filters, and a documented open API. The reference instrument for seismic events. | Free, open API | Open ↗ |
| OpenStreetMapopenstreetmap.org | The open world map, built by volunteers, free to use and reuse with attribution. The tiles behind the map on this page. | Free | Open ↗ |
| Google Mapsgoogle.com/maps | The default for street-level and satellite imagery, traffic, and place data. Best coverage for the everyday question "where is this." | Free to use | Open ↗ |
| Google Earthearth.google.com | 3D globe with historical imagery and terrain. The tool for seeing change over time at a place, and for reading landform. | Free | Open ↗ |
| USGS National Mapapps.nationalmap.gov | US topographic maps, elevation, hydrography, and land cover. The authoritative geological base layer for the United States. | Free | Open ↗ |
| NASA FIRMSfirms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov | Near-real-time fire and thermal anomalies from satellite, worldwide. The map to check when something is burning. | Free | Open ↗ |
| Google Earth Engineearthengine.google.com | A planetary-scale archive of satellite imagery with analysis tools. Heavier lift, but it is where serious land-change analysis happens. | Free for research | Open ↗ |
| Overpass Turbooverpass-turbo.eu | Query OpenStreetMap's raw data by feature (every hospital in a region, every road named X). Power tool for map data, not just map pictures. | Free | Open ↗ |
| geojson.iogeojson.io | Draw, edit, and share map geometry in the open GeoJSON format. The quick way to hand someone a shape, not a screenshot. | Free | Open ↗ |
| what3wordswhat3words.com | Addresses any 3m square with three words. Useful when a location has no street address at all. | Free to use | Open ↗ |
Checked 2026-10-13. The live map is wired to USGS directly. The others are links we verified respond; they are not embedded here because they need a key, a login, or heavy compute. Cost and access change without warning.