Public
Edited
Apr 7
md`# Final Project Proposal - Shaking the Earth: A Visual Exploration of Earthquake Magnitudes and Significance`
md`## Project Link`
md`## Team Members
1) Chun Hang Chan
This is an individual project. I will be responsible for data acquisition, cleaning, visualization design, and development of the interactive notebook.`
md`## Goal
This project aims to visually explore and communicate the distribution and impact of earthquakes in the USA by combining two key attributes: * **magnitude** * and * **significance** *. The target audience includes the general public, educators, and researchers interested in natural disasters and geophysical phenomena.
Through geovisualization, this project seeks to:
* Communicate spatial patterns and hotspots of recent significant earthquakes.
* Help users understand the relationship between earthquake magnitude and its broader impact or significance.
* Create an intuitive, interactive tool for both exploration and education.
The overarching goal is to use visual storytelling to reveal geographic trends and patterns in seismic activity, focusing not only on how strong an earthquake was, but how consequential it was within the US.`
md`## Data
This project uses recent earthquake data from the [USGS Earthquake Catalog](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/search/), specifically focusing on earthquakes that occurred in the past 7 days in the United States. The data was extracted on **April 6th, 2025**, and includes events with a magnitude greater than 2.5.
The dataset includes the following attributes:
- **Magnitude**
- **Location (Latitude and Longitude)**
- **Depth**
- **Time of occurrence**
- **Significance score** (a USGS-derived index that estimates the overall impact or media coverage of each event)
### Spatial and Temporal Coverage
- **Spatial extent**: United States
- **Temporal extent**: March 30th to April 6th, 2025 (7-day window)
- **Resolution**: Point-level earthquake records
- **Limitations**:
- Some minor earthquakes may be missing in remote areas due to underdetection.
- The "significance" field is calculated using multiple indirect indicators and may not always represent real-world damage or impact.`
md`### Earthquake Data Table (CSV Format)
The table below shows earthquake events from March 30th to April 6th, 2025. It includes location, magnitude, depth, and significance. These records were extracted from the USGS Earthquake Catalog and filtered to include only magnitudes above 2.5.`
USAEarthQuakeApril6.csv
Type Table, then Shift-Enter. Ctrl-space for more options.
md`### Earthquake GeoJSON File (for Mapping)
This GeoJSON file was generated from the CSV data and is used for spatial mapping, enabling proportional symbols and magnitude-based color representation in the final visualization.
`
usaearthquakeapril6 = FileAttachment("USAEarthQuakeApril6.json").json()
md`## Metadata
### Data Sources
The primary data source is the **USGS Earthquake Hazard Program**, specifically the Earthquake Catalog API. The dataset was downloaded on **April 6th, 2025**, and includes all earthquakes in the **United States** with a **magnitude greater than 2.5** over the past 7 days.
- [USGS Earthquake Catalog](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/search/)
### Spatial and Temporal Extent
- **Spatial extent**: Continental United States
- **Temporal extent**: March 30th to April 6th, 2025 (7-day range)
### Resolution
- **Spatial resolution**: Point-based observations of earthquake epicenters, with latitude and longitude recorded to at least 2 decimal places (~1 km spatial resolution).
- **Temporal resolution**: Event-level precision recorded down to seconds.
### Uncertainty
- Some events may have **location uncertainty**, especially in offshore or sparsely monitored regions.
- Depth estimates can have variation due to the seismic wave travel time model.
- Event magnitude may be adjusted after initial automated reporting.
### Accuracy
- Earthquake data is generated through a mix of **automated detection and human review**.
- Magnitude is usually reliable, but smaller events may be underrepresented, particularly in less instrumented regions.
### Representativeness
- The dataset is considered **highly representative** for moderate-to-large earthquakes (magnitude >2.5) in the U.S.
- However, very minor seismic activity or aftershocks in rural areas may be underreported or filtered out.
---
## Preliminary Maps
The following draft maps provide a preview of the earthquake data used in the project:
`
md`## Related Work
- **USGS Earthquake Map Viewer** – A standard point-based map without bivariate emphasis.
- **Observable notebook: Earthquake Map by Mike Bostock** – Explores real-time quake plotting but lacks significance as a variable.
- **Academic studies** on seismic data visualization often emphasize time series and seismograph simulations rather than geographic storytelling.
This project builds upon these by combining dual-variable mapping (magnitude + significance) with interactive exploration features.`
md`## Planned Representation Techniques
- **Graduated Color** to represent **magnitude**, allowing users to distinguish weaker vs stronger quakes.
- **Proportional Symbols** (circles scaled by significance value) overlaid on the map.
- **Bivariate Map** design that encodes both attributes clearly, avoiding visual clutter.
- **Tooltip Interactions**: Hovering over a symbol shows details (magnitude, location, date, significance).
- **Timeline slider or filter**: Allow users to explore earthquakes over time (e.g., by year or month).
**Alternative Techniques Considered:**
- Heatmaps of density, but they mask individual event details.
- Animation over time (e.g., using Deck.gl) for dynamic storytelling.
All visualizations will be interactive and hosted on an Observable notebook embedded in the class GitHub site.`
md`## What Users Will Learn from the Visualization
The interactive and web-based visualizations are designed to help users extract the following key insights:
- **Identify earthquake hotspots**: Users will quickly see which regions of the U.S. experienced the most seismic activity over the selected time period.
- **Understand severity vs. significance**: By combining magnitude (strength) and significance (impact), the bivariate map allows users to distinguish between strong but remote quakes and weaker but highly impactful ones.
- **Explore spatial patterns**: Users can visually analyze where earthquakes tend to cluster (e.g., West Coast fault lines) and how they vary across regions.
- **Compare events**: Hover interactions will allow users to compare events by viewing magnitude, significance, depth, and time directly on the map.
## Objectives by Visualization Method
- **Graduated Color (Magnitude)**
Allows users to visually distinguish the intensity of earthquakes. Darker or more saturated colors will indicate higher magnitudes.
_Objective_: Show how earthquake strength varies spatially.
- **Proportional Symbols (Significance)**
Circles scaled to the significance variable help communicate the broader impact of each event (e.g., media coverage, damage, casualties).
_Objective_: Highlight which earthquakes had the most societal or media impact regardless of magnitude.
- **Bivariate Visualization (Combined)**
The overlay of graduated color and symbol size offers a nuanced interpretation—e.g., identifying earthquakes that are both strong and significant versus those that are strong but not impactful.
_Objective_: Support layered storytelling with simultaneous comparison.
- **Tooltips + Hover Details**
When users hover over or click on a symbol, they’ll get a popup with time, location, magnitude, depth, and significance.
_Objective_: Offer detailed context and support individual event analysis.
- **(Optional) Time Filter or Slider**
A time filter could allow users to step through days or weeks, revealing how earthquake activity evolves over time.
_Objective_: Add a temporal component to spatial patterns.
These methods collectively support **exploration**, **comparison**, and **interpretation**, encouraging users to think critically about seismic risk and response beyond just the magnitude number.`
Purpose-built for displays of data
Observable is your go-to platform for exploring data and creating expressive data visualizations. Use reactive JavaScript notebooks for prototyping and a collaborative canvas for visual data exploration and dashboard creation.
