usgs

More Italian earthquakes and the Google Earth earthquake layer not updating

November 2, 2016

Italy has again suffered a series of earthquakes, with the largest occurring this past Sunday, October 30th, 2016. The earthquakes were centred just north west of the locations of the August earthquakes. However, if you enable the Google Earth ‘Gallery->Earthquakes’ layer, there is no trace of either of these events. The earthquakes layer has always been restricted to large earthquakes, but the Sunday earthquakes at a preliminary magnitude 6.6s was the largest in Italy in 36 years. We also had a look for the Japanese Kumamoto Earthquake form April and that too is not in the layer, so it would appear the layer has not been updated for some time.

When layers like this are broken, Google should consider either fixing the layer, or, as they did with the weather layers, remove the layer altogethers so as to not cause confusion.

The data for the layer comes from the USGSs which provides KMLs of earthquake data which you can find here. Those KMLs are kept up to date and do show the recent Italian quakes, although a layer called ‘tectonic plates’ that is in the KMLs does not work.

Use the KMLs provided directly by the USGS to find earthquakes in Google Earth and not the built in layer.

Note that if you choose one of the animated KMLs, you must click the play button on the time toolbar in order to see the earthquake markers. You may also want to slightly separate the two sliders a in the time toolbar for the best results.

We have not yet found any imagery for these latest earthquakes available for Google Earth. However, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service does provide imagery in the form of downloadable images of the main affected areas. The images vary in quality and are mostly marked with damage assessments, so it is difficult to see the actual damage in the imagery. In addition, much of the imagery was captured and analysed before Sunday’s earthquake, which was the largest.

The Oklahoma Earthquakes

March 29, 2016

Starting in 2009 the state of Oklahoma has seen a dramatic increase in seismic activity. According to Wikipedia, it has gone from an average of less than two 3.0+ Mw earthquakes per year to hundreds in 2014 and 2015. This has been caused by increased drilling for oil and the subsequent pumping of waste water into disposal wells deep underground. Read more here. As a result of the increased seismic activity, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has released a new ‘damage map’ showing the risk of damage due to earthquakes significantly increased for the region. Read more about it here and find the map here.

Google Earth has a built in ‘Earthquakes’ layer found in the ‘Gallery’ layer. It only shows earthquakes over 3.0 Mw and as you zoom out it filters out the smaller ones. The result is that when looking at the whole of the continental U.S., Oklahoma doesn’t stand out as being particularly unusual.

However, the ‘Earthquakes’ layer is provided by the USGS and it is possible to obtain more detailed layers directly from them. Go here for automatic live feeds that show recent earthquakes, or here for more advanced queries.

If we choose the “Past 30 Days, M2.5+ Earthquakes” and “Colored by age”, the cluster in Oklahoma immediately becomes apparent:

We can also use the more advanced queries to compare 2008 and 2015:

Earthquakes 2.5+ Mw during 2008.

Earthquakes 2.5+ Mw during 2015.

To see the above in Google Earth download this KML file. The 2008 and 2015 datasets only cover the region around Oklahoma as the USGS website has a limit on the number of quakes allowed in a single query.

USGS Historical Topographic Maps

May 5, 2015

We have in the past looked at a lot of content provided by the USGS. The USGS is the provider of the data for the ‘earthquakes layer’ in Google Earth. We also looked at some of their future plans, like the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP).

We recently came across this article about USGS’s topoView. Despite its name, it is not for actually viewing maps but rather, it helps you find and download them. The maps in question are historical topographic maps of the US from the USGS’s vast collection.

USGS topoView

The maps can be downloaded in various formats, including KMZ for viewing in Google Earth.

A topographic map of Fort Smith, Arkansas, from 1887.

We found it interesting in the Fort Smith map above just how much the river has changed since then. When you have downloaded a KMZ and loaded it in Google Earth, expand it in ‘Places’, find the ‘Map’ item, right click and select ‘properties’. In the Image overlay dialog box that appears you can adjust the transparency of the map to compare it with the modern imagery in Google Earth.

California fault lines and earthquake probabilities

March 13, 2015

We have in the past looked at the some of the California fault lines where earth quakes are likely to occur.

A recent story in the news is that a recent report by the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities (WGCEP) shows that the probability of an 8.0 magnitude earthquake happening in the next 30 years in the California region is higher than previously thought.

The interesting part from a Google Earth perspective is that WGCEP has provided a KML file showing the fault lines in the California region and the associated probability of a large earthquake happening in the next 30 years. You can download the KML here.

Google Earth has an Earthquakes layer in the Gallery, provided by the US Geological Society (USGS) which shows historical large earthquakes globally. In addition, the USGS provides various KMLs that show all the recent earthquakes over a magnitude of 1.0. You can find them here.

If you want a global view of the tectonic plates that cause the fault lines, we recommend the map from MyReadingMapped that we reviewed here.

We have also looked at the aftermaths of earthquakes, such as the August 2014 Napa Earthquake.

USGS 3D Elevation Program

October 16, 2014

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has a program called the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP).

From the USGS website:

The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) initiative is being developed to respond to growing needs for high-quality topographic data and for a wide range of other three-dimensional representations of the Nation’s natural and constructed features. The primary goal of 3DEP is to systematically collect enhanced elevation data in the form of high-quality light detection and ranging (lidar) data over the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories, with data acquired over an 8-year period. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (ifsar) data will be collected over Alaska, where cloud cover and remote locations preclude the use of lidar over much of the State.

We believe that once completed the data will be placed in the public domain, which will mean that Google will use it in Google Earth. It is not clear how the resolution will compare to the 3D imagery that Google has been rolling out for cities that is created using a different technique. It would certainly not replace Google’s 3D imagery, as that requires not just a 3D model, but also photos of the different faces of the models, which will not be provided by the USGS data. However, it would certainly significantly improve the 3D landscape for areas where Google has not created 3D mesh.

Google has worked closely with USGS in the past. The Earthquake layer in Google Earth is provided by the USGS, as was the imagery used in Google Earth Engine to create global yearly images and a timelapse of the whole earth.

High-resolution lidar image of Mount St. Helens, Washington. Courtesy of USGS. A downloadable high resolution poster of this image can be found here

This article in the Washington post shows a sample of the new terrain maps, which clearly shows trees and is reminiscent of Google’s 3D imagery. However, this article from The American Surveyor shows a sample in which the trees hardly seem to feature. I guess we will have to wait for the first actual releases of data to see what the results are.