Live Seismograph Screensaver
The Seismograph screensaver is a retro helicorder drum that traces the planet's live seismicity. Every recent earthquake from the USGS feed draws a real spike, scaled by its magnitude, on a scrolling green trace. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Seismograph screensaver works
The saver pulls the U.S. Geological Survey's live earthquake feed — every quake in the last hour or day, with its real time, place and magnitude.
It draws a stack of helicorder trace lines with a faint background micro-tremor, like a paper drum recorder.
Each real earthquake is placed at the exact x-position matching its event time and drawn as a damped spike whose height grows with magnitude; the biggest quakes are thicker and redder.
The drum scrolls slowly and the feed refreshes every minute, so new quakes appear as they're reported.
A worked example
During an active spell you'll watch the trace tick along quietly, then jump as a real M5.2 spike lands at its true time, with the latest event's magnitude and place called out below. Switch the window to the past hour for a tighter, busier drum.
Settings & tips
- Window chooses the past hour or the past day of seismicity.
- Trace color sets the phosphor color of the drum.
- Background sets the drum's backing color.
Frequently asked questions
- Are the spikes real earthquakes?
- Yes. Every spike is a real earthquake from the USGS feed, placed at its true time and scaled by its real magnitude. The faint baseline wiggle is decorative.
- Where does the data come from?
- The U.S. Geological Survey's public, key-less earthquake feed — the same source used by the Live Earthquakes saver.
- Does it show a specific seismometer?
- No — it's a stylised global drum that renders the whole feed as one helicorder. It conveys real activity, not one station's raw waveform.
- Does it need a key or account?
- No. The USGS feed is free and key-less; it only needs an internet connection.
- Is it free?
- Yes, and it runs entirely in your browser with no download.