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Real Time Information and Earthquake Notification services
Principle | Present contributions | FAQ
Principle
EMSC collects real time parametric data (source parmaters and phase pickings) provided by 65 seismological networks of the Euro-Med region. These data are provided to the EMSC either by email or via QWIDS (Quake Watch Information Distribution System, developped by ISTI). The collected data are automatically archived in a database, made available via an autoDRM, and displayed on the web site. The collected data are automatically merged to produce automatic locations which are sent to several seismological institutes in order to perform quick moment tensors determination.
For potentially destructive earthquakes, the EMSC operates an Earthquake Notification Service in which email/SMS/fax are disseminated to the registered end-users within 20-30 minutes on average after the earthquake occurrence. This service is free and registration is available here.
The real time information services are purely automatic and deals with all events reported by the data contributors while the Earthquake Notification Service is a manual one, where the email/SMS notifications are disseminated by a seismologist on call to the end-users (More than 8,400 on 01/06/2010). The way the real time information services work is described in details in the 2 following documents:
- Report on EMSC Real Time Earthquake Information services in 2009.
- Description of EMSC Real Time Earthquake Information services.
Present contributions
- 65 contributing networks
- Corresponding to 1,782 seismic stations
- More than 15,000 events published per year
Frequently Asked Questions (for data contributors)
Which type of data should be sent?
- Parametric data i.e. source parameters (origin time, epicenter coordinates, hypocentral depth, magnitude) and arrival times (station code, phase picking, calibrated amplitude/period).
- Groups of phases (without associated location) can be highly valuable and should be sent too.
- Moment tensors and/or focal mechanisms.
- Field observations after a significant earthquake.
What are the main criteria for data contribution?
- Rapidity is critical to ensure real time characteristic of the information and to allow the rapid dissemination of alert messages (alert messages are generally disseminated within 20-30 minutes of the earthquake occurrence).
- Good station coverage is critical to ensure reliable location. Then, contributions from stations close to the epicentre, and/or which significantly improve the station coverage (e.g. offshore seismicity) are extremely valuable even if only available several hours after the event occurrence.
- In practice, networks with no automatic processing capacities are invited to systematically send their data, as soon as possible. In case of significant (M > 4.0-4.5) and/or felt earthquake, their data can be essential to determine accurate source parameters.
How must a data contributor provide real time data ?
- Via email: sent to a specific email adress.
- or Via QWIDS: the Quake Watch Information Distribution System allows quick, robust and secure data echange. Please contact for more information
- with the following recommandations:
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- Data message must be sent in ascii (text) format. Not in html or enriched text.
- The data must be included in the body of the message. No .doc, no .xls.
- The data provider can use any text format but its data must then always be formatted in the same format because all the data are processed automatically. Any modification of the format must be notified to EMSC several days before.
- One message must contain the data of only one earthquake.
Is there a magnitude limit for contributions?
- Messages related to events with magnitude lower than 2 are not displayed by the Real Time System (they are however archived in the database). The selection being made automatically at EMSC, contributors should not bother on this aspect.
Is there a time limit to send data contribution?
- The quicker the contribution, the better; nevertheless there is no time limit. In practice, except for most significant earthquakes for which a final revised location may be re-computed 2 to 3 days after the event occurrence, data contributions are more valuable if sent within 24 hours. Indeed, since May 2005, EMSC systematically reviews all Euro-Med events (as far as they are reported by 2 different networks) regardless of their magnitude, on the working day following their occurrences. This manual review has 2 objectives:
- To avoid that inaccurate or erroneous hypocentral solutions resulting from automatic locations tools stay on the web page.
- To define a preliminary bulletin within a few days delay which will be used as an help to compute the Euro-Med Bulletin.
Should the data be automatic or manual?
- Data can be both manual and automatic
- A manual pick automatically replace the automatic one for the same station and same phase, therefore a manual message can be sent by the same network to update a manual one.
Is data redundancy a problem?
- No. Receiving data for the same station from different networks improve reliability of the system in case of technical failure of a contributor. In practice, when available a manual pick replaces the automatic one. If only automatic picks are available, the one with the smallest residual is kept in the real time system, and, for the alert system, the choice is made by the seismologist on duty.
What are the main technical specifications a contributor should follow?
- Define the procedures before sending any parametric data contributions (contact ).
- Keep the same ASCII format (otherwise the parser will fail and the data won't be integrated). No attachment, no .doc, .xls, .html files.
- Systematically send the data to both and . Indeed, IGN (Spain) runs back-up procedures for EMSC and takes over the duty for the alert system in case of technical problem or maintenance activities at EMSC.
- Always send the data from the same identified email accounts (parsers are associated to email specific addresses).
- Ensure that the stations are registered in the International Registry. EMSC can help you on this matter.
What can contributors get?
- All the data EMSC receives are archived immediately in a database and available by autoDRM (in GSE2.0 format). If interested please contact
- The automatic locations (MIX, see Figure 1) are disseminated by email 65 minutes after the earthquake occurrence. The 65 minutes delay ensures the stability of the solution as the vast majority of the data are then available. Nevertheless, these solutions are purely automatic and may be erroneous. If interested please contact
- More generally, if EMSC can provide a useful specific service for its members and/or data contributors, we will be happy to help!
What type of data can be included in a special report?
- All the data which can be of interest for the seismological community and/or the public: tectonic setting, historical seismicity, field report, testimony on the effects or links to your own dedicated pages. Do not hesitate to ask us to open new pages.
- All contributions should be sent to , and .