Help & Support

Welcome to our FAQ, help, support page. Got problems? Questions? Things you are not clear about. Start by looking at the online help page which will give you a quick overview.

Quakeshakes has plenty of features and add-on options to load up your quake map. But things can get pretty confusing and overcrowded in a hurry. Best to turn off these features.

This page is very much a work in progress. So if you can't find the answer you are looking for here send us a comment or request, or any suggestion on what you would like to see included.


FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions


What is Quakeshakes?

Quakeshakes is a new software application that turns your home computer into a seismic monitoring station and shows you recent quake activity around the world. On top of this are numerous interactive features that not only shows you where quakes take place but why.

Quakeshakes taps into the live feed of a worldwide network of seismic sensors maintained by the USGS that updates every 30 minutes.

How do I install Quakeshakes?

Just go to the download page and hit the install button. If it is not already installed, you will also be downloading Adobe Air which is required to run Quakeshakes.

What is Adobe Air?

Adobe Air or Adobe Integrated Runtime is a cross-platform runtime environment developed by Adobe Systems, the same folks who brought you Adobe Photoshop and Acrobat Reader, brand names which have become industry standards. To date 2009 Adobe Air has been installed the over 200 million computers.

What it allows you to do is take applications that run inside a web browser and install them on a desktop like any other computer program. You don't even have to be connected to the internet. In simple terms Adobe Air is just another way of developing software. It's biggest advantage is that it runs on Windows and Macs.

How do I update to the latest version of Quakeshakes?

Quakeshakes will have updates from time to time. If an update is available you will get an "update available' dialog box when you launch the program.

Adobe Air, the runtime environment, will also have updates as the technology matures and evolves. You will get the same update dialog box.

I keep getting an "oops network error. What gives?

Make sure you are online and connected to the internet. If you have Internet Explorer check to see if the work offline tab is unchecked as this will block incoming feeds. Google Earth has the same issue. Also USGS feeds get the hiccups from time to time. If this happens just hit the clear button and try again in a few minutes.

Why are some quakes not showing up on the map?

We've gotten a few questions like this. Somebody feels an earthquake in their region and and doesn't get reported or show up on the map. Or it may get reported and disappear a few hours later.

There are a number of reasons for this. Remember Quakeshakes only reports quakes M 2.5 or larger. Anything below is not reported in the feeds. A quake may be initially recorded as a M 2.7 but a few hours later it may be downgraded to a M2.4, in which case it will not be included in the feeds. It happens all the time.(See next FAQ)

Why do I keep seeing different magnitudes for the same earthquake?

When an earthquake takes place, the first information recorded comes usually from on a small subset of the seismic stations in the immediate network. This is especially true in larger earthquakes. This is done so that some information can be obtained immediately without waiting for all of it to be processed.

As a result, the first magnitude reported is usually based on a small number of recordings. As more data are processed and become available, the magnitude and location of a quake will change slightly.