Current World Earthquake Information

A Partial Guide to Reading This Chart

When you click on one of the spikes, you will get a readout that looks something like this:

99/02/11 14:08:47 GMT 33.79N 69.03E |' - '|GLDFSCR| 33.0|5.9|Ms|B|AFGHANISTAN

Of most interest to the average user of the chart are the following:

• The first number (99/02/11) is the date of the event.
• The next number (14:08:47 GMT) tells you the time the event was recorded (Greenwich Meridian Time)
• The next set of numbers and letters tells you the exact latitude and longitude of the earthquake.
• "GLDFSCR" is the station where the earthquake was recorded. The most common California stations are BERKLY and CALTECH.
• The magnitude of this quake, as measured on the Richter Scale, is 5.9.
• Finally, the approximate location of the earthquake is given as AFGHANISTAN.

California locations are usually given in more detail, indicating the distance and direction from the nearest town.

Visit "Eyewitness to Disaster: California Earthquakes"

Code provided courtesy of Quakemap.com.