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    • United States Earthquake Intensity Database, 1638-1985 (Superseded Version)

    Metadata Updated: May 17, 2025

    The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information decommissioned the United States Earthquake Intensity Database, 1638-1985 on May 05, 2025 with no further updates. Upon termination, the underlying data will be available from https://doi.org/10.25921/wa4z-d240. Comments and questions may be sent to: ncei.info@noaa.gov. Note this metadata record is accompanied by another newer version of metadata for the same product. The United States Earthquake Intensity Database is a collection of damage and felt reports for over 23,000 U.S. earthquakes from 1638-1985. The majority of intensities are for U.S. cities, but there are also a few earthquakes and intensities for Panama (1925-1975), the Philippines (1926-1937), and Mexico (1887-1981). The data were compiled from various publications, newspaper reports, and special catalogs. The annual serial "United States Earthquakes," is the principal data source and provides 90 percent of the observations. Most records in the file contain the date and time of occurrence and location of the earthquake, magnitude, focal depth, two-digit state code, name and coordinates of observing city or town, the observed intensity at each town, and the distance from city (or locality) to epicenter. The file consists of more than 150,000 earthquake intensity observations. The data file serves as an important information source for the preparation of intensity histories that are useful for environmental and hazard impact statements. The file is static and is no longer being updated.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date May 8, 2025
    Metadata Created Date October 18, 2024
    Metadata Updated Date May 17, 2025
    Reference Date(s) January 1, 1972 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NGDC MGG Hazards WAF

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Map of earthquake intensity locations.

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date May 8, 2025
    Metadata Created Date October 18, 2024
    Metadata Updated Date May 17, 2025
    Reference Date(s) January 1, 1972 (publication)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.ngdc.mgg.hazards:G01142
    Access Constraints Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose., Cite as: United States Geological Survey (USGS), United States Earthquakes, published annually by: Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1928-68; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1969-72; NOAA/U.S. Geological Survey from 1973-80; and U.S. Geological Survey from 1981-1986 (2025). U.S. Earthquake Intensity Database (1638–1985) (NCEI Accession 0303634). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Unpublished Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/wa4z-d240. Accessed [date].
    Bbox East Long 180.000000
    Bbox North Lat 69.000000
    Bbox South Lat 4.000000
    Bbox West Long -180.000000
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned
    Graphic Preview Description Map of earthquake intensity locations.
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/img/usaint.jpg
    Graphic Preview Type jpg
    Harvest Object Id 56bb8a2c-ea02-46e4-9cdc-f85ac99ee363
    Harvest Source Id 7b37b703-805c-4a27-b47f-d471f07b5ed7
    Harvest Source Title NGDC MGG Hazards WAF
    Licence
    Lineage Although the history of the development of earthquake intensity scales is long and interesting, only a brief summary will be presented here. Poarid, an Italian, made the first known attempt to classify earthquakes by intensity in 1627; he used a scale of four levels of intensity to describe effects of earthquakes experienced at different towns. Although many additional attempts were made in the 18th and 19th centuries to develop comprehensive scales for measuring earthquake intensity, none was more widely used than that formulated in 1873 by M. S. de Rossi of Italy and F. A. Forel of Switzerland. But this scale also had severe limitations, and therefore was superseded in the early 1900s by Mercalli's revised intensity scale; it contained 12 levels of intensity. In 1931, a modified version of Mercalli's scale was published by H. O. Wood and Frank Neumann. Known as the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale of 1931, it has become the standard used by the United States engineering seismology community, which includes the National Geophysical Data Center and the U.S. Geological Survey.
    Metadata Language eng; USA
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, 4.0], [180.0, 4.0], [180.0, 69.0], [-180.0, 69.0], [-180.0, 4.0]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 1638-06-11
    Temporal Extent End 1985-12-31

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