National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) (2025): United States earthquake intensity database, 1638-1985 [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.981234 (DOI registration in progress)
Always quote citation above when using data! You can download the citation in several formats below.
Published: 2025-04-29
Abstract:
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. 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.
This dataset has been archived in the framework of the PANGAEA US data rescue initiative 2025.
Keyword(s):
Continental Tectonics; Earthquake Dynamics; Earthquake Occurrences; earthquakes; Epicenter; global; gov.noaa.ngdc.mgg.hazards:G01142; Hypocenter; International Council for Science - World Data System; National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce; National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce; Seismic activity; Seismic monitoring; Seismographs; Seismometers
Source:
Earthquake Intensity Database 1638-1985 | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) - pdf from 2025-04-08 [webpage]. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/natural-hazards/tsunamis-earthquakes-volcanoes/earthquakes/intensity-database-1638-1985, earthquake_intensity_database_web.pdf (Website decommissioned on May 5, 2025)
Bollinger, G A; Stover, C W (1976): List of Intensities for the 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, Earthquake. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 76-66, 31 pp, https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr7666
Brazee, Rutlage J (1976): Final Report: An Analysis of Earthquake Intensities with Respect to Attenuation, Magnitude, and Rate of Recurrence (Revised Edition). NOAA Tech. Memorandum EDS NGSDC-2, NOAA/National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado, 53 pp, https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/30847/noaa_30847_DS1.pdf
California State Earthquake Investigation Commission; Lawson, Andrew C; Reid, Harry F: California Earthquake of April 18, 1906, Report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission, v.1 (by Andrew C. Lawson); v. 2 (by Harry F. Reid). Washington, D.C., Carnegie Institution of Washington, v1+2, https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001488595
Coffman, Jerry L; von Hake, Carl A; Stover, C W (1982): Earthquake History of the United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado, 41-1 (revised Ed.), 258 pp, https://pubs.usgs.gov/unnumbered/70114182/report.pdf
Dutton, Clarence E (1889): The Charleston Earthquake of August 31,1886. Ninth Annual Report, 1887-88, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington D.C., 203-528
Meyers, Herbert (1976): A Historical Summary of Earthquake Epicenters in and Near Alaska. NOAA Tech. Memorandum EDS NGDC-1, NOAA/National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado, 57 pp, https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/49957/noaa_49957_DS1.pdf
Meyers, Herbert; Brazee, Rutlage J; Coffman, Jerry L; Lessig, S R (1976): An Analysis of Earthquake Intensities and Recurrence Rates in and Near Alaska. NOAA Technical Memorandum EDS NGSDC-3, NOAA/National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado, 101 pp, https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/66662/noaa_66662_DS1.pdf
Meyers, Herbert; von Hake, Carl A (1976): Earthquake Data File Summary. Key to Geophysical Records Documentation, NOAA/National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado, 5, 32 pp, https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/13409/noaa_13409_DS1.pdf
Murphy, Leonard M (1973): San Fernando, California, earthquake of February 9, 1971 Volume 1 Part A Introduction and buildings. NOAA/Environmental Research Laboratories, Washington D.C., 1A, https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/56269/noaa_56269_DS1.pdf
Murphy, Leonard M (1973): San Fernando, California, earthquake of February 9, 1971 Volume 1 Part B Buildings (continued), Soils and Foundations. NOAA/Environmental Research Laboratories, Washington D.C., 1B, https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/56270/noaa_56270_DS1.pdf
Murphy, Leonard M (1973): San Fernando, California, earthquake of February 9, 1971 Volume 2 Utilities, Transportaion and Sociological Aspects. NOAA/Environmental Research Laboratories, Washington D.C., 2, https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/56271/noaa_56271_DS1.pdf
Murphy, Leonard M (1973): San Fernando, California, earthquake of February 9, 1971 Volume 3 Geological and geophysical Studies. NOAA/Environmental Research Laboratories, Washington D.C., 3, https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/56272/noaa_56272_DS1.pdf
Nuttli, Otto W (1973): The Mississippi Valley Earthquakes of 1811 and 1812; Intensities, Ground Motion, and Magnitudes. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 63(1), 227-248, https://doi.org/10.1785/BSSA0630010227
Scott, Nina: List of Modified Mercalli intensities for the April 8, 1906, San Francisco, California, Earthquake. Prepared under contract for U.S. Geological Survey, unpublished manuscript
Tarr, Ralph S; Martin, Lawrence; Gilbert, G K (1912): The Earthquakes at Yakutat Bay, Alaska, in September 1899. U.S Geological Survey Professional Paper, U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, Washington D.C., 69, 135 pp, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp69
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (1969): The Prince William Sound, Alaska, Earthquake of 1964 and Aftershocks. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 10-3(v1-3), https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001488583
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey: Abstracts of earthquake reports for the Pacific Coast and the Western Mountain Region. San Francisco, Calif. : U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1934-1966, https://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/7718780.html
U.S. Department of Commerce, Coast and Geodetic Survey: Quarterly Seismological Report, 1925-27. Washington D.C.
U.S. Department of Commerce, National Weather Service: Monthly Weather Review, December 1914-June 1924 (Seismological reports are usually described in the issues for the month in which the earthquakes occurred) [webpage]. Washington D.C., https://library.noaa.gov/weather-climate/monthly-weather
U.S. Geological Survey: United States Earthquakes [webpage]. 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, https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/earthquakes
Wood, Harry O; Neumann, Frank (1931): Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale of 1931. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 21(4), 277-283, https://doi.org/10.1785/BSSA0210040277
Original version:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Earthquake Intensity Database 1638-1985 [dataset]. Original xlsx, accessed on 2025-04-22, Definition_of_Variables.pdf (eqint_tsqp.xlsx)
Additional metadata:
gov.noaa.ngdc.mgg.hazards:G01142. G01142.xml
Further details:
Map of earthquake intensity locations. usaint.jpg
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2024): Significant Earthquakes 2150 B.C. to A.D. 2023 (poster). 2023_eq_poster_20240502_a2.pdf
Project(s):
US data rescue initiative 2025 (USDataRescue2025)
Coverage:
Median Latitude: 38.738542 * Median Longitude: -112.432961 * South-bound Latitude: 4.600000 * West-bound Longitude: 120.200000 * North-bound Latitude: 68.410000 * East-bound Longitude: -56.000000
Event(s):
Comment:
Product has been decommissioned from NCEI websites as of May 5, 2025. For later years, the USGS National Earthquake Information Center (https://earthquake.usgs.gov/) provides maximum intensities for each event.
Data are also available on the Seismicity Catalog CD Rom 1996 (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.981231) for more than four million earthquakes from 2100 B.C. to 1995 A.D.
---
Distributor: Hazards Data Manager, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, haz.info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact: DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce, ncei.info@noaa.gov
--
Time Period: 1638-06-11 to 1985-12-31
Dataset Progress Status: Complete - production of the data has been completed. There are no plans to update the data in this collection.
Purpose: Environmental and hazard impact studies, Research Use Limitations
--
Acknowledgments: 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.
Produced by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Not subject to copyright protection within the United States.
Parameter(s):
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
2456406 data points
Download Data
View dataset as HTML (shows only first 2000 rows)