Earthquake Information Products

The USGS develops a prompt estimate with earthquake magnitude and location.
Minutes to 10's of minutes later the USGS releases four main follow-up reports relating to earthquake shaking and possible consequences.
ENS can send you text summary reports for any/all of these products. Reports cannot be combined.

  • Event Report - magnitude and location

    • Earliest available report of earthquake occurrence.
    • Contains earthquake time, location, magnitude and list of nearby cities or features.
    • Delivered normally 5 to 15 minutes after U.S. earthquakes,
      and 10 to 20 minutes moderate and large earthquakes elsewhere in the world.
    • Settings:
      • Earthquake magnitudes.
      • Notification hours, for example, to only message during waking hours.
      • Destination email or email-to-SMS address
      • Message format, either email or short message.
    • Detailed instructions
  • PAGER Summary - Estimated impacts to people and property
    • Preferred report for users who need a compact summary of anticipated earthquake consequences.
    • Content produced by the PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response) Project.
    • Delivery normally 20-40 minutes after an earthquake.
    • Available for most M4+ earthquakes in the U.S. and M5+ elsewhere in the world.
    • Historically PAGER has reported on 1 to 2 events per week.
    • Settings:
      • Threshold for sending, defined by earthquake magnitude, Modified Mercalli Shaking Intensity, or the PAGER-specific Earthquake Intensity Scale.
      • Destination email or email-to-SMS address
      • Example message formats: email PAGER report or short PAGER report.
    • Detailed instructions
  • Aftershock forecasts - what could come after a large (U.S.) earthquake
    • Large earthquakes normally have aftershocks, and occasionally trigger a larger earthquake.
    • Select the Aftershock Forecast product to get a summary of probabilities of aftershocks by magnitude.
    • Produced by the Operational Earthquake Forecast (OAF) Project for M5+ earthquakes in the U.S. and Territories.
    • Delivered about 25 minutes after the Event Report, with one update at one hour.
    • Typically fewer than 1 to 2 events per week.
    • Settings:
    • Detailed instructions
  • ShakeMap Text Summary - peak shaking intensity
    • ShakeMaps are developed for moderate and large earthquakes.
    • The ENS report is a brief summary, not the map itself.
    • ShakeMaps become available 5 to 10 minutes after the Event Report.
    • For most users the PAGER report will better meet their needs. The PAGER report contains the ShakeMap, plus much more information.
    • ShakeMaps are developed for moderate and large earthquakes worldwide.
    • Select the ShakeMap product if you have particular need to know when a new ShakeMap becomes available for an earthquake in your region.
    • Settings:
    • Detailed instructions
  • ShakeAlert® - follow-up notice.
    • After the ShakeAlert® earthquake early warning system reports an earthquake, a system performance report is sent for the USGS web pages.
    • ENS sends a short text summary when ShakeAlert® releases a new report.
    • Only for moderate and large earthquakes in California, Oregon and Washington.
    • Normally delivered 8-15 minutes after the earthquake.
    • This product might interest followers of USGS the ShakeAlert® system earthquake early warning Project.
    • Not helpful for protection.
    • Settings:
    • Detailed instructions