Quake Analyzer

quake-analyzer is a command-line tool that fetches and analyzes earthquake data, including filtering based on magnitude and location, calculating recurrence intervals, and generating reports. This tool can help researchers and enthusiasts analyze earthquake data from the USGS database over various timeframes.

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Features

• Fetch earthquake data from the USGS Earthquake API.
• Filter earthquakes based on magnitude and region.
• Analyze major earthquakes and their recurrence intervals.
• Export the list to CSV.
• Plot the count of major earthquakes per year.
• Estimate the recurrence interval and probability of future major earthquakes.

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Installation

From source

git clone https://github.com/danielhaim1/quake-analyzer.git
cd quake-analyzer
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

From PyPI

pip install quake-analyzer

# Run the CLI help command to verify:
quake-analyzer --help
# Loading cities.csv...
# Loading countries.csv...
# Loading states.csv...

Dependencies

This project relies on the following major Python libraries:

• pandas - for data manipulation and analysis.
• numpy - for numerical calculations and averaging intervals.
• requests - for fetching data from the USGS Earthquake API.
• colorama - for colorful terminal output.
• matplotlib - optional, used with the --plot flag to visualize earthquake trends.

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Options

Option	Description	Default
--data	Manually pass quakes as [[timestamp, magnitude, location], ...]	None
--fetch	Fetch recent earthquakes from USGS	None
--minmag	Minimum magnitude to filter	6.0
--days	Number of days to look back from today	1825 (5 years)
--start	Start date for USGS query (format: YYYY-MM-DD)	None
--end	End date for USGS query (format: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS)	None
--yesterday	Automatically set --end to yesterday 23:59:59 UTC	Off
--location	Location name to filter by (supports city, state, or country from CSVs)	None
--lat	Latitude for search center (used if --location is not set)	None
--lon	Longitude for search center (used if --location is not set)	None
--radius	Radius in kilometers around the specified location	None
--estimate	Estimate the recurrence interval and probability of major quakes (1, 2, 5, 10 years)	Off
--export	Export results to CSV	Off
--plot	Plot earthquakes per year	Off
--verbose	Print debug information	Off

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Examples

Global major quakes in past 20 years

quake-analyzer --fetch --minmag 6.0 --days 7300

Estimate Next Quake

quake-analyzer --fetch --minmag 6.0 --days 7300 --estimate

Estimate Analysis (Colombia)

quake-analyzer --fetch --minmag 9.5 --location "Colombia" --radius 1000 --days 10000
quake-analyzer --fetch --minmag 8.5 --location "Colombia" --radius 1000 --days 10000
quake-analyzer --fetch --minmag 7.5 --location "Colombia" --radius 1000 --days 10000

Location based filtering

# Quakes near Tokyo (within 300 km)
quake-analyzer --fetch --location "Tokyo" --radius 300 --minmag 5.5 --days 3650

# California region, major quakes (last 20 years)
quake-analyzer --fetch --location "California" --radius 500 --minmag 6.0 --days 7300

# Chile, strong events only
quake-analyzer --fetch --location "Chile" --radius 400 --minmag 6.8 --days 7300

Custom manual input

# Manually analyze a couple of events
quake-analyzer --data "[['2021-12-01T12:00:00', 6.5, 'Tokyo'], ['2022-01-01T15:00:00', 7.0, 'Santiago']]"

Export and Plot

# Export filtered results to CSV
quake-analyzer --fetch --location "Alaska" --radius 500 --minmag 6.0 --days 3650 --export

# Plot quake frequency per year
quake-analyzer --fetch --location "Indonesia" --radius 500 --minmag 6.0 --days 7300 --plot

# Export and plot together
quake-analyzer --fetch --location "Mexico" --radius 300 --minmag 6.2 --days 5000 --export --plot

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Location Resolution

You can pass --location using names of:

• Cities (e.g., Tokyo, San Francisco)
• States (e.g., California, Bavaria)
• Countries (e.g., Japan, Mexico)

Coordinates are looked up from:

src/data/
├── cities.csv
├── states.csv
├── countries.csv

Each file should include:

name,latitude,longitude

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Estimate: How It Works

The estimation feature calculates two important metrics based on recent earthquake data:

• Recurrence Interval: The average time (in years) between major earthquakes (≥ 6.0 magnitude).
• Probability: The likelihood of a major earthquake occurring within the next year.

Calculation Process::

• Filter Major Quakes: Only earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.0 or higher are considered.
• Calculate Time Intervals: The tool calculates the time differences between each consecutive major earthquake.
• Compute Mean Recurrence Interval: The mean recurrence interval is the average of these time intervals.
• Estimate Probability: The probability of a major earthquake occurring within the next year is estimated as the inverse of the mean recurrence interval (1 / mean recurrence interval).

Example:

quake-analyzer --fetch --location "Tokyo" --radius 300 --minmag 9.5 --days 20000 --estimate
quake-analyzer --fetch --location "Tokyo" --radius 300 --minmag 8.5 --days 20000 --estimate
quake-analyzer --fetch --location "Tokyo" --radius 300 --minmag 7.5 --days 20000 --estimate

• Fetch earthquake data for Tokyo (within a 300 km radius).
• Filter by magnitude ≥ 6.0.
• Estimate the recurrence interval and probability based on the quakes in that region over the last 10 years (3650 days).

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Outputs

The tool will output earthquake data in the terminal, including:

• The total number of major earthquakes.

• The years in which earthquakes occurred.

• Gaps between major earthquakes.

• A summary of earthquakes per year.

• Estimates of recurrence intervals and probabilities (if --estimate is used).

• If --export is used, the results will be saved to a CSV file with the following columns:

• Years Ago

• Magnitude

• Date

• Timestamp

• Location

• Type (Major or Moderate)

• Mean Recurrence Interval (years)

• Estimated Probability (per year)

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Screenshots

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Notes

• USGS limits results to 20 years and 2000 entries per request.
• For smaller magnitudes (e.g., 3.0+), results may be capped quickly, especially in active zones.
• Timestamp columns in exported CSVs include both quake time and export time.
• Plots require matplotlib. Install via:

pip install matplotlib

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

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Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

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Reporting Bugs

If you encounter a bug or issue, please open an issue on the GitHub repository with as much detail as possible including:

• Command used
• Stack trace or error message
• Your OS and Python version