`search_earthquakes`

Pack: usgs-earthquakes · Endpoint: https://gateway.pipeworx.io/usgs-earthquakes/mcp

Search the USGS earthquake catalog (FDSNWS event API) for real-time and historical seismic events. Filter by time window, magnitude, depth, and a circular geographic area. Returns a compact list of quakes with magnitude, location, time, coordinates, depth, and significance. Keyless.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`start_time`	string	no	ISO date/time lower bound, e.g. “2026-06-01” or “2026-06-01T00:00:00”. Defaults to 30 days ago.
`end_time`	string	no	ISO date/time upper bound, e.g. “2026-06-09”. Defaults to now.
`min_magnitude`	number	no	Minimum magnitude (e.g. 5 for M5+).
`max_magnitude`	number	no	Maximum magnitude.
`latitude`	number	no	Center latitude for a circular search (use with longitude + max_radius_km).
`longitude`	number	no	Center longitude for a circular search (use with latitude + max_radius_km).
`max_radius_km`	number	no	Search radius in km around latitude/longitude.
`min_depth_km`	number	no	Minimum hypocenter depth in km.
`max_depth_km`	number	no	Maximum hypocenter depth in km.
`limit`	number	no	Max events to return (default 20, max 100).
`order_by`	string	no	Sort order: “time” (newest first, default), “magnitude” (largest first), “time-asc”, or “magnitude-asc”.

Example call

Arguments

{
  "starttime": "2024-01-01",
  "endtime": "2024-01-31",
  "minmagnitude": 5
}

curl

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/usgs-earthquakes/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"search_earthquakes","arguments":{"starttime":"2024-01-01","endtime":"2024-01-31","minmagnitude":5}}}'

TypeScript (@pipeworx/sdk)

import { Pipeworx } from '@pipeworx/sdk';
const pipeworx = new Pipeworx();

const result = await pipeworx.call('search_earthquakes', {
  "starttime": "2024-01-01",
  "endtime": "2024-01-31",
  "minmagnitude": 5
});

More examples

{
  "starttime": "2024-01-01",
  "endtime": "2024-12-31",
  "latitude": 35.68,
  "longitude": 139.69,
  "maxradius": 5,
  "minmagnitude": 3
}

Response shape

Always returns: count, earthquakes

Field	Type	Description
`count`	number	Total number of earthquakes matching criteria
`earthquakes`	array	List of earthquakes matching search criteria

Full JSON Schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "count": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Total number of earthquakes matching criteria"
    },
    "earthquakes": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "List of earthquakes matching search criteria",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "id": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "USGS event ID"
          },
          "magnitude": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Earthquake magnitude"
          },
          "place": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Location description"
          },
          "time": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Event time in ISO 8601 format"
          },
          "latitude": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Epicenter latitude"
          },
          "longitude": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Epicenter longitude"
          },
          "depth_km": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Depth below surface in kilometers"
          },
          "type": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Event type (e.g., earthquake)"
          },
          "alert": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Alert level if applicable"
          },
          "tsunami": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "description": "Tsunami warning flag"
          },
          "significance": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Event significance score"
          }
        },
        "required": [
          "id",
          "magnitude",
          "place",
          "time",
          "latitude",
          "longitude",
          "depth_km",
          "type",
          "tsunami",
          "significance"
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "count",
    "earthquakes"
  ]
}

Connect

Add this to your MCP client config, or use one-click install buttons:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "usgs-earthquakes": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/usgs-earthquakes/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See Getting Started for client-specific install steps.

search_earthquakes