USGS Earthquake History API and MCP server

API access

Your AI client reaches USGS Earthquake History through one ParcelOps MCP endpoint, so there is no separate key to hold for it and no per-source client to write. Reaching it takes no credentials of your own.

What this source cannot tell you

• ⚠ Anything outside Worldwide. A request past that edge comes back empty rather than approximated.
• ⚠ Which years it spans, because the covered period is not declared.
• ⚠ Anything USGS Earthquake Hazards Program does not publish. ParcelOps returns this source as it stands and never fills a blank field from a different one.
• ⚠ Published event history is not a parcel-specific seismic hazard, engineering, or insurance determination.

Methods (5)

A method is one call your agent can make against this source.

• searchByRadius

  read

  Search published events within 500 km of a coordinate.

  What you must providelatitudelongitude

  FreshnessNear real-time (source-level)
  Input schema

  {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "latitude": {
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": -90,
        "maximum": 90
      },
      "longitude": {
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": -180,
        "maximum": 180
      },
      "radiusKm": {
        "type": "number",
        "exclusiveMinimum": 0,
        "maximum": 500
      },
      "startTime": {
        "type": "string",
        "format": "date-time"
      },
      "endTime": {
        "type": "string",
        "format": "date-time"
      },
      "minMagnitude": {
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": -2,
        "maximum": 10
      },
      "limit": {
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 1000
      },
      "orderBy": {
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "time",
          "time-asc",
          "magnitude",
          "magnitude-asc"
        ]
      },
      "catalog": {
        "type": "string",
        "maxLength": 40
      },
      "contributor": {
        "type": "string",
        "maxLength": 40
      }
    },
    "required": [
      "latitude",
      "longitude"
    ],
    "additionalProperties": false
  }

• searchEarthquakes

  read

  Search events by bounded place, time, magnitude, or network.

  FreshnessNear real-time (source-level)
  Input schema

  {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "startTime": {
        "type": "string",
        "format": "date-time"
      },
      "endTime": {
        "type": "string",
        "format": "date-time"
      },
      "minLatitude": {
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": -90,
        "maximum": 90
      },
      "maxLatitude": {
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": -90,
        "maximum": 90
      },
      "minLongitude": {
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": -180,
        "maximum": 180
      },
      "maxLongitude": {
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": -180,
        "maximum": 180
      },
      "minMagnitude": {
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": -2,
        "maximum": 10
      },
      "maxMagnitude": {
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": -2,
        "maximum": 10
      },
      "limit": {
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 1000
      },
      "orderBy": {
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "time",
          "time-asc",
          "magnitude",
          "magnitude-asc"
        ]
      },
      "catalog": {
        "type": "string",
        "maxLength": 40
      },
      "contributor": {
        "type": "string",
        "maxLength": 40
      }
    },
    "required": [],
    "additionalProperties": false
  }

• getEventDetail

  read

  Get one earthquake event by its USGS event ID.

  What you must provideeventid

  FreshnessNear real-time (source-level)
  Input schema

  {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "eventid": {
        "type": "string",
        "minLength": 1,
        "maxLength": 80
      }
    },
    "required": [
      "eventid"
    ],
    "additionalProperties": false
  }

• getRecentEvents

  read

  Get a curated real-time feed by magnitude and time window.

  FreshnessNear real-time (source-level)
  Input schema

  {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "minMagnitude": {
        "oneOf": [
          {
            "type": "string",
            "enum": [
              "significant"
            ]
          },
          {
            "type": "number",
            "enum": [
              1,
              2.5,
              4.5
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      "period": {
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "hour",
          "day",
          "week",
          "month"
        ]
      }
    },
    "required": [],
    "additionalProperties": false
  }

• getServiceInfo

  read

  Return source coverage, limits, and use notes.

  FreshnessNear real-time (source-level)
  Input schema

  {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {},
    "required": [],
    "additionalProperties": false
  }

Where this source is used

• Land research

  Parcel records, ground conditions, and what reaches the property line, for raw and rural land.

• Commercial real estate

  Parcel and assessment records, building programs, and the entity on the other side of the deal.

• Residential real estate

  The parcel record, the housing programs that touch an address, and the conditions a buyer asks about.

• Realtors and brokerages

  The facts behind a listing, the programs a buyer may qualify for, and your own files in the same place.

• Have earthquakes been recorded near this site?