Answers, right now
These are not screenshots. Every answer below was produced by the same assistant, from the same live feeds, when this page was last built.
Is there a tsunami warning right now?
No. There are no active tsunami alerts anywhere in the world in the feeds QuakeMate tracks (the US National Tsunami Warning Center and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center). Because none is active globally, none is active for any individual country.
Which countries have the most earthquakes today?
Panama has had the most earthquakes in the last 24 hours (10 of the 100 most recent events QuakeMate tracked), followed by Costa Rica (8), Italy (7), Chile (6), Indonesia (6). This ranks the most recent events in the feed, not every earthquake worldwide.
Which volcanoes are erupting right now?
38 volcanoes are currently erupting worldwide according to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, and 3 are on a raised US alert level (USGS HANS).
Tell me a surprising earthquake fact
Each step up the magnitude scale releases about 32 times more energy. A magnitude 9 quake unleashes roughly 1,000 times the energy of a magnitude 7. Earthquake shaking arrives in waves: fast P-waves first, then the destructive S-waves. Early-warning systems detect the harmless P-waves and race out an alert before the strong shaking hits. Earth isn’t the only world that shakes - there are moonquakes and marsquakes too. Apollo astronauts left seismometers on the Moon, and NASA’s InSight lander recorded thousands of quakes on Mars.
Which years had the most major earthquakes?
2010 had the most magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes on record, with 24 - the strongest an M8.8, 2010 Maule, Chile Earthquake. Next were 2011 (20) and 1995 (20).
Which fault and trench systems do you cover?
QuakeMate covers 18 hazard zones - the named fault, trench and caldera systems - including Campi Flegrei, Yellowstone, Long Valley Caldera, Reykjanes Peninsula, Nankai Trough.
What it can do
- Tell you whether a tsunami alert is in effect, and which centre issued it.
- Count recent earthquakes in a country, and show the largest.
- Say which volcanoes are erupting and at what alert level.
- Explain how magnitude, aftershocks and plate boundaries work.
- Take you straight to the right page instead of describing where it is.
What it will not do
- Predict earthquakes. Nobody can, and it will say so rather than guess.
- Invent a warning or an all-clear. Official status comes from the feed in the agency's own words, or it is not stated at all.
- Answer from outside QuakeMate. If the data does not cover it, it says it does not know.
In an emergency, follow your national warning centre and local authorities.
This is a beta
It understands plain questions about earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes, but it can still misread an unusual phrasing and answer the wrong question. The data behind the answers is the same data the rest of QuakeMate runs on. If it gets something wrong, tell us - that is what beta is for.
Where the answers come from
Earthquakes from the USGS, EMSC and regional seismic networks. Tsunami alerts from the US National Tsunami Warning Center and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Volcanoes from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, with US alert levels from the USGS. The assistant can only use those feeds and the pages of this site, which is why it can tell you it does not know.