IRIS Earthquake Browser URL Builder: Quick Guide to Creating Custom Queries

IRIS Earthquake Browser URL Builder: Quick Guide to Creating Custom Queries

What it is

The IRIS Earthquake Browser URL Builder is a way to construct direct links to IRIS’s web-based earthquake browsing tool by encoding search parameters into the URL. That lets you share or bookmark searches that specify time ranges, geographic bounding boxes, magnitude thresholds, depth ranges, event types, and display options.

Common URL parameters (typical names)

• starttime / endtime: ISO datetimes for event time window.
• minmagnitude / maxmagnitude: Numeric magnitude bounds.
• minlatitude / maxlatitude / minlongitude / maxlongitude: Geographic bounding box.
• mindepth / maxdepth: Depth in kilometers.
• eventtype: e.g., earthquake, quarry blast (if supported).
• orderby: Sort field (time, magnitude, depth).
• limit: Maximum number of events returned.
• format / output: JSON, CSV, or web view (varies by service).

Example URL pattern (conceptual)

A typical builder creates a URL like:

Code
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https://earthquake.usgs.org/iris-browser?starttime=2025-01-01T00:00:00Z&endtime=2025-01-31T23:59:59Z&minmagnitude=4.5&minlatitude=34.0&maxlatitude=38.0&minlongitude=-123.0&maxlongitude=-118.0&orderby=time

(Note: actual parameter names and host may differ for IRIS; check the IRIS browser’s documentation or inspect the app’s network requests.)

Step-by-step: Create a custom query

1. Decide time window: Pick ISO 8601 start and end datetimes (UTC).
2. Set magnitude/depth filters: Choose min/max magnitude and depth to narrow results.
3. Define area: Use lat/lon bounds or a center + radius if supported.
4. Choose sorting and limit: Order by time or magnitude and set a result cap.
5. Encode into URL: Add parameters as query string key=value pairs, URL-encode special characters.
6. Test and refine: Open the URL, confirm results, adjust parameters as needed.

Tips

• Use UTC ISO timestamps to avoid timezone issues.
• URL-encode spaces and special characters (e.g., commas).
• If the browser supports preset views, include those parameters to set map layers or basemaps.
• For automation, generate URLs programmatically (Python requests/urllib or JavaScript encodeURIComponent).

Where to verify details

Check the IRIS Earthquake Browser documentation or inspect network requests from the browser’s developer tools to confirm exact parameter names and supported values.