Methodology

Summary: we automatically collect disaster data from official public APIs, normalize it into one consistent model, deduplicate events reported by multiple agencies, and display it with source links and timestamps. We never fabricate or editorially alter live measurements.

1. Collection

Scheduled jobs fetch each source every 10 minutes (respecting each provider's rate limits). Failed fetches are retried with backoff; a source failing repeatedly is paused automatically for one hour and its health shown in our monitoring.

2. Normalization

Each source uses its own schema. We map every record to a common model: hazard type, coordinates, event time (UTC), measurements (magnitude, depth, wind, detections…), source URL and source-update time. Original values are preserved; nothing is re-estimated.

3. Severity levels

Sources grade events differently, so we map them to four labels — Minor, Moderate, Severe, Extreme:

  • Earthquakes: by magnitude (M5+ Moderate, M6+ Severe, M7+ Extreme).
  • GDACS events: Green→Moderate, Orange→Severe, Red→Extreme.
  • NWS alerts: agency severity field (Severe/Extreme).
  • NASA EONET: assigns no severity — shown as Moderate and labelled accordingly.

Severity is always displayed as a text label with a dot-count icon, never by colour alone.

4. Deduplication

The same earthquake may be reported by both USGS and EMSC. Events of the same type within roughly 50 km and 6 hours are merged into one record listing every reporting source. The first-reporting source remains the primary reference.

5. Event lifecycle

Events not re-confirmed by any source for 48 hours move to monitoring; after 7 further days they are closed. Closed minor/moderate events are pruned after a retention period; significant events remain accessible.

6. Historical database

Historical entries are curated from documented records (USGS archives, NOAA NCEI, ReliefWeb, national agencies, peer-reviewed reviews). Casualty and damage figures often differ between sources — we publish a primary figure with an explicit uncertainty note and citations.

Limitations

  • Coverage reflects what the monitored agencies publish; local events below agency thresholds may not appear.
  • Automatic feeds contain preliminary values that agencies later revise.
  • Country attribution near borders and offshore is approximate.
  • This site is not an official warning service; nothing here replaces local emergency guidance.