# USGS API: Search earthquakes near a place > Finds recent USGS earthquakes near a city, address, or region, with distances and times in the searched place's time zone. Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by USGS. - Page: https://fous.com/methods/earthquake.usgs.gov/search-earthquakes - Method: `earthquake.usgs.gov/search_earthquakes`, version 1 - Website: earthquake.usgs.gov - Returns: magnitude, location, times (UTC and local), depth, distance, tsunami flag, felt reports, alert level, USGS details link - Effect: read (it gets data and changes nothing) - Sign-in: none needed - Cost: 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free - Verified: Nov 2, 2026 ## Inputs | Field | Type | Required | In the run below | Description | |---|---|---|---|---| | `sort` | string | no | `"largest"` | Order earthquakes by newest or largest. One of "newest", "largest". Default "newest". | | `place` | string | yes | `"Tokyo, Japan"` | City, address, or region to search near, for example Los Angeles, CA. | | `days_back` | integer | no | `30` | Number of past days to search, for example 7. Default 7. | | `max_results` | integer | no | `5` | Maximum number of earthquakes to return, for example 50. Default 50. | | `radius_miles` | number | no | `300` | Search radius in miles, for example 100. Default 100. | | `minimum_magnitude` | number | no | `4` | Smallest earthquake magnitude to include, for example 2.5. Default 2.5. | ## Output From a run on Oct 27, 2026, shortened. Its input: ```json { "sort": "largest", "place": "Tokyo, Japan", "days_back": 30, "max_results": 5, "radius_miles": 300, "minimum_magnitude": 4 } ``` Its output: ```json { "earthquakes": [ { "depth_km": 41.649, "latitude": 35.7025, "location": "0 km NNE of Yōkaichiba, Japan", "time_utc": "2026-10-01T12:27:11.864+00:00", "longitude": 140.5507, "magnitude": 5.3, "alert_level": null, "depth_miles": 25.88, "distance_km": 77.58, "details_link": "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000tytg", "felt_reports": 25, "time_at_place": "0NaN-NaN-NaNTNaN:NaN:NaN.NaN0N:aN", "tsunami_alert": "no", "usgs_event_id": "us6000tytg", "distance_miles": 48.21 }, { "depth_km": 73.037, "latitude": 35.6751, "location": "3 km WSW of Shibayama, Japan", "time_utc": "2026-10-07T19:13:50.830+00:00", "longitude": 140.3957, "magnitude": 4.9, "alert_level": null, "depth_miles": 45.38, "distance_km": 63.6, "details_link": "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000u0u7", "felt_reports": 4, "time_at_place": "0NaN-NaN-NaNTNaN:NaN:NaN.NaN0N:aN", "tsunami_alert": "no", "usgs_event_id": "us6000u0u7", "distance_miles": 39.52 }, { "depth_km": 68.519, "latitude": 36.0471, "location": "5 km S of Sakai, Japan", "time_utc": "2026-09-28T19:45:07.179+00:00", "longitude": 139.7894, "magnitude": 4.9, "alert_level": null, "depth_miles": 42.58, "distance_km": 40.73, "details_link": "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000ty7u", "felt_reports": 69, "time_at_place": "0NaN-NaN-NaNTNaN:NaN:NaN.NaN0N:aN", "tsunami_alert": "no", "usgs_event_id": "us6000ty7u", "distance_miles": 25.31 } ] } ``` ## Run it From code, with a Fous API key in `FOUS_API_KEY`; the answer's `data` holds the output: ```bash curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"earthquake.usgs.gov/search_earthquakes","input":{"sort":"largest","place":"Tokyo, Japan","days_back":30,"max_results":5,"radius_miles":300,"minimum_magnitude":4}}' ``` From an AI agent connected to the Fous MCP server: its `run` with the same method and input. To connect one, give it `set up https://fous.com/SKILL.md`. ## Ask your agent - Show me earthquakes near Anchorage, Alaska from the past 14 days with magnitude 3 or higher, sorted by largest first. - Any recent quakes around Tokyo within 200 miles in the last 30 days? - I'm moving to Reno, NV next week. What seismic activity has there been nearby over the last 3 months, limited to magnitude 2.5 and up? - List the 20 newest earthquakes within 75 miles of Santiago, Chile in the past week, including depth and whether a tsunami was flagged. - Did anything shake near Christchurch, New Zealand in the last 60 days? Give me the strongest ones within 150 miles with their local times and felt reports. ## Input schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "place" ], "properties": { "sort": { "enum": [ "newest", "largest" ], "type": "string", "default": "newest", "description": "Order earthquakes by newest or largest." }, "place": { "type": "string", "description": "City, address, or region to search near, for example Los Angeles, CA." }, "days_back": { "type": "integer", "default": 7, "maximum": 365, "minimum": 1, "description": "Number of past days to search, for example 7." }, "max_results": { "type": "integer", "default": 50, "maximum": 200, "minimum": 1, "description": "Maximum number of earthquakes to return, for example 50." }, "radius_miles": { "type": "number", "default": 100, "maximum": 1000, "description": "Search radius in miles, for example 100.", "exclusiveMinimum": 0 }, "minimum_magnitude": { "type": "number", "default": 2.5, "description": "Smallest earthquake magnitude to include, for example 2.5." } }, "additionalProperties": false } ``` ## Output schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "earthquakes" ], "properties": { "earthquakes": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "magnitude", "location", "time_at_place", "time_utc", "depth_km", "depth_miles", "distance_miles", "distance_km", "tsunami_alert", "felt_reports", "alert_level", "details_link", "usgs_event_id", "latitude", "longitude" ], "properties": { "depth_km": { "type": [ "number", "null" ], "description": "Earthquake depth in kilometers." }, "latitude": { "type": "number", "description": "Epicenter latitude.", "x-fous-developer": true }, "location": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "description": "Earthquake location in words." }, "time_utc": { "type": "string", "description": "Earthquake time in UTC, ISO 8601." }, "longitude": { "type": "number", "description": "Epicenter longitude.", "x-fous-developer": true }, "magnitude": { "type": [ "number", "null" ], "description": "Earthquake magnitude." }, "alert_level": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "description": "USGS alert level in words, if available." }, "depth_miles": { "type": [ "number", "null" ], "description": "Earthquake depth in miles." }, "distance_km": { "type": "number", "description": "Distance from the searched place in kilometers." }, "details_link": { "type": "string", "description": "USGS earthquake details page." }, "felt_reports": { "type": [ "integer", "null" ], "description": "Number of felt reports, if known." }, "time_at_place": { "type": "string", "description": "Earthquake time in the searched place's time zone, ISO 8601 with offset." }, "tsunami_alert": { "enum": [ "yes", "no" ], "type": "string", "description": "Whether the USGS flags the earthquake as a possible tsunami." }, "usgs_event_id": { "type": "string", "description": "USGS event ID.", "x-fous-developer": true }, "distance_miles": { "type": "number", "description": "Distance from the searched place in miles." } }, "additionalProperties": false }, "description": "Recent earthquakes near the searched place." } }, "additionalProperties": false } ``` ## See more - [USGS API: List significant earthquakes](https://fous.com/methods/earthquake.usgs.gov/list-significant-earthquakes.md): Lists significant worldwide earthquakes for the past day, week, or month, newest first, with USGS PAGER alert levels and impact summaries when USGS provides them. - [USGS API: Get river level](https://fous.com/methods/waterdata.usgs.gov/get-river-level.md): Gets the latest water height, flow, 24-hour trend and flood-stage status at the active USGS river gauge best matching a river or town and state. Flood stage is null when not published; gauges without recent stage, flow or 24-hour history are not returned. - [Google API: Search places](https://fous.com/methods/google.com/search-places.md): Finds businesses and places near a location on Google Maps, in Google Maps order, with rating, hours, contact details and links when shown. - [Google API: Get place reviews](https://fous.com/methods/google.com/get-place-reviews.md): Finds a place on Google Maps by name and location and returns its public reviews in the chosen order. - [Google API: Get place](https://fous.com/methods/google.com/get-place.md): Looks up a public Google Maps place by name and location and returns its profile: address, rating, hours, phone, website and photos. - [GreatSchools API: Search schools near a location](https://fous.com/methods/greatschools.org/search-schools.md): Finds GreatSchools schools within 5 miles of a US address, city or ZIP code. Results can be filtered by grade and school type and sorted by distance or rating. - [NASA API: List natural events](https://fous.com/methods/nasa.gov/list-natural-events.md): List EONET natural events with latest observations in the past number of days, most recent first. A country or region filter matches reported event locations against mapped boundaries; locations and ongoing status are approximate, and not all events have a reported size or strength. - [NWS API: List weather alerts](https://fous.com/methods/weather.gov/list-weather-alerts.md): Lists active US weather watches, warnings and advisories for a city, address, ZIP code or state, most severe first, then newest. - [All USGS methods](https://fous.com/methods/usgs.gov.md)