Data Sources
Every event on Was That A Quake? comes from an official seismic authority. Here's the full credit list.
We don't alter the underlying data; we re-present it in a faster, more accessible form. Each source is the canonical authority for its region.
Earthquakes
| Region | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Global & North America | United States Geological Survey (USGS) | earthquake.usgs.gov |
| Australia | Geoscience Australia | earthquakes.ga.gov.au |
| New Zealand | GeoNet (GNS Science / Toka Tū Ake EQC) | geonet.org.nz |
| Japan | Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) | jma.go.jp |
| Japan Early Warning | Wolfx JMA EEW mirror | wolfx.jp |
| Indonesia | Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG) | bmkg.go.id |
| Europe & Mediterranean | European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) | emsc-csem.org |
Tsunami warnings
| Ocean / Region | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific & Caribbean | NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) | tsunami.gov |
| US / Alaska / Atlantic / Gulf | NOAA National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) | tsunami.gov |
| Japan | Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) | jma.go.jp |
Bonus impact products
For events listed on the USGS feed, we display additional products when available: ShakeMap (peak ground motion), DYFI — Did You Feel It? (community felt reports), PAGER (impact alert level), and OAF (operational aftershock forecast). All sourced directly from USGS event detail records.
Historical catalogue
The "On This Day" page queries the USGS FDSN event catalogue for significant (M6.5+) earthquakes since 1900. View today's historical events →
Map tiles
Background map tiles are served by a third-party map provider. Fault line and tectonic plate overlays are derived from public-domain datasets, principally Peter Bird's 2003 plate-boundary model (PB2002).
Attribution & reuse
All upstream data remains the property of the respective agencies and is provided here under their public terms of use. Where an agency requires attribution, that attribution is given on this page; where the data is in the public domain (USGS), we still credit the source.