Temblor

Temblor forecasts global seismicity, estimates home damage, provides insights, visualizes flood, liquefaction, landslide hazards.

Funded by the NSF SBIR program

A PERSONAL SOLUTION TO A GLOBAL PROBLEM

Half of the world’s population lives near active faults, and so could suffer earthquake damage. Most do not know they are at risk; many of the rest do too little, too late.

Temblor enables everyone in the conterminous United States, and eventually the world, to learn their seismic hazard, to determine what most ensures their safety, and to decide what best reduces their risk.

Temblor works anywhere in the United States, using the best available public data and methods. Our goal is to make earthquake risk ‘real,’ without scaring, soothing, or snowing people. Navigating through Temblor, is quick, fun, and easy. Info buttons explain its calculations, estimates, and data sources.

In Temblor’s map you can see the faults and recent quakes around you; use your current location or enter an address. Temblor typically shows magnitude-1.0 or larger quakes in the U.S, and magnitude-4.5 or larger in the rest of the world; the quakes are updated every few minutes. You can click on any quake for more information. Everything is identified in map legends.

The Temblor Seismic Hazard Rank slider lets you know how your location compares to the most and least hazardous sites in the coterminous U.S. By moving the pin around, you can see how your hazard changes, and how it compares to other areas in your commute zone or nearby.

By entering your home’s age and size, Temblor estimates the chances of seismic damage and the cost of repairs in an intuitive, interactive pie chart. Temblor also estimates the cost, and financial and safety benefits of a bolt-and-brace retrofit to your home, so you can assess if this makes sense for you. In addition, Temblor estimates the chances of a payout for a typical earthquake insurance policy for your home at your location.

In an interactive bar chart, Temblor also puts your seismic risk in context. The chart compares your chance of extensive earthquake damage to other perils that most people protect themselves from or insure against, such as a your home burning down or your car being totaled.

In Temblor’s layers menu, you can add liquefaction zones (which can cause a home to sink or tilt when shaken), and landslides (which can cause a home to slide downhill during a quake, or be covered in debris). You can also use a relief map, route map, or satellite image as a base, and zoom in as close as you wish.

Temblor is free and ad-free. Please share Temblor with your friends and family to help our mission to live stronger together.