Lateral spreading disrupted Vine Road near Wasilla, Alaska. Photograph by Rob Witter, U.S. Geological Survey, public domain.
The Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) — federal, state and academic partners working toward an earthquake-resilient nation, through the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program — produces information and tools for the moments right after a significant earthquake, when situational awareness matters most.
What ANSS does
- Collects and analyses seismic and geodetic data.
- Issues timely, reliable earthquake notifications and impact estimates.
- Provides data for earthquake research and hazard and risk assessments.
Since ANSS began in 2000, the USGS and its partners have installed more than 3,300 modern seismic stations that transmit high-quality data for emergency management and response, engineering and science.
Why it matters
FEMA and the USGS estimate the average earthquake loss in the United States at $6.1 billion a year, and damaging earthquakes threaten nearly half the population. Monitoring data can reduce those losses by helping to focus resources where risk is greatest, retrofit buildings, improve earthquake-engineering design and plan emergency response. After a quake, rapidly shared information on where shaking was strongest and what it did lets responders mobilise at the level needed.
The products
The newest include aftershock forecasts, estimates of secondary effects such as ground failure, and estimates of impacts such as financial losses and deaths. They serve the public, the media and responders, including those who look after utilities, emergency coordination, recovery, planning and business continuity.
| Product | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Latest Earthquakes | maps and information on U.S. and worldwide earthquakes within minutes |
| Earthquake Notification Service | customisable alerts sent automatically to your phone or email |
| Web Services and Feeds | real-time data as RSS, CSV and KML |
| Did You Feel It? | citizen-science shaking-intensity maps made from reports by people who felt the quake |
| ShakeMap | how strongly the ground shook, anywhere in the world, within minutes |
| ShakeCast | automatic ShakeMap delivery, damage assessment and alerts for operators of critical lifelines |
| PAGER / TwoPAGER | estimates of people exposed, deaths and economic losses from shaking, worldwide, within minutes |
| Ground Failure | estimates of likely landslides and liquefaction |
| ShakeAlert | earthquake early warning for the U.S. West Coast, detecting significant quakes fast enough to alert people and automated systems |
| Aftershock Forecasting | the chance of aftershocks over the next day, week, month and year after a significant U.S. earthquake |
| Earthquake Summary Posters | posters within 24 hours of a significant quake, with images and text on the area's seismic background |
| Earthquake Catalog | search past earthquakes and historical seismicity, in several formats, with links to details |
All are on the USGS earthquake website, earthquake.usgs.gov, except ShakeCast, at usgs.gov/software/shakecast.
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey, 2020, Earthquake information products and tools from the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS): U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2020–3042. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/fs20203042
- The product list and photograph come from the fact sheet's PDF, which the web version lacks.
- Rewritten in hubnx's own words.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from pubs.usgs.gov
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