Earthquakes are among the most frequent and impactful natural disasters worldwide, presenting a significant global challenge to human survival and development. Earthquake disasters exhibit the following prominent characteristics:
- Massive Destructiveness. Earthquakes cause damage to mountains, ground surfaces, and their attachments (such as vegetation and buildings), often accompanied by secondary disasters like tsunamis, fires, landslides, and floods. These events result in substantial casualties and property losses, while also introducing new hazards to modern socio-economic systems, such as communication failures and computer accidents.
- Instantaneity and Unpredictability. Earthquakes occur instantaneously, with their effects lasting from mere seconds to a maximum of two to three minutes—sufficient to trigger landslides and collapse buildings. This leaves insufficient time for effective defensive measures. Current and foreseeable technological capabilities remain inadequate for predicting earthquake occurrences.
- High Frequency. Approximately 5 million earthquakes occur annually worldwide, translating to tens of thousands daily. Most are imperceptibly small or distant, with only about 10-20 causing severe harm to humans and merely one or two resulting in catastrophic damage.
The socio-economic impact of earthquakes is multifaceted. Macro-level effects include: (1) severe damage to infrastructure and buildings in affected areas, potentially causing mass casualties and hindering local economic development; (2) conversely, disaster-induced destruction may catalyze urban renewal and development opportunities by resolving conflicts between land redevelopment and durable structures, thereby injecting new impetus into local economies. Micro-level impacts involve immense fiscal pressure on local governments for short-term rescue and reconstruction, potentially leading to intensified corporate tax enforcement for revenue generation—directly affecting businesses.
CnOpenData's US Earthquake Information dataset encompasses earthquake-related data aggregated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) from 1800 to present, offering high-quality data resources for relevant research.
Data Coverage
- 1800.01.01–2024.07.18 (updatable as needed)
- Curated by USGS, covering earthquakes above magnitude 2.5 in the contiguous US and above magnitude 5.0 globally
Data Scale
Field Specifications
Sample Data
References
- Abbasoglu, Hilmi Bugra and Kalkan, Burak, Seismic Shifts in Property Valuations: A Salience Theory Approach to Understanding Market Reactions to Earthquake Risk (June 06, 2024).
Data Update Frequency
Annual updates