Global CMT Catalog Search

Search form

If you use CMT results in published work, please provide an appropriate citation; see here for information on how to cite the catalog. Thanks!

Enter parameters for CMT catalog search. All constraints are 'AND' logic.

Date constraints: catalog starts in 1976 and goes through present
There are several methods to choose date ranges--use the radio buttons to select which method you want to use
Starting Date: Ending Date:
Year: Month: Day: Year: Month: Day:
Year: Julian Day: Year: Julian Day:
Number of days: Including starting day

Magnitude constraints: catalog includes moderate to large earthquakes only
(see note on calculation of magnitudes)
Moment magnitude: <= Mw <=
Surface wave magnitude: <= Ms <=
Body wave magnitude: <= mb <=

Location constraints:
Latitude: (degrees) from to Must be between -90 and 90
Longitude: (degrees) from to Must be between -180 and 180
Depth: (kilometers) from to

Source time and mechanism constraints:
Centroid time shift: (seconds) from to
Tension axis plunge: (degrees) from to
Null axis plunge: (degrees) from to
Use tension and null axis plunge to search by mechanism. For example, thrust faults have large plunge (>45) of tension axis, strike-slip faults have large plunge of null axis, and normal faults have small (<45) for both tension and null axes.

Output type:
Standard
List of event names
GMT psvelomeca input
GMT psmeca input
CMTSOLUTION format
Full format


Further information

This is a forms query for the Global Centroid Moment Tensor database, formerly known as the Harvard CMT catalog. The main database runs from January, 1976, to about 6 months before the present. Also included in this search are the Quick CMTs (from the end of the main catalog through the present). For more information on CMTs, see the CMT project web page.

Catalog in ASCII format

The CMT catalog and Quick CMTs are also available in various ASCII files for direct download.

Note on calculation of moment magnitude:

The moment magnitude is calculated by this software using the formula of Kanamori (1977), MW = (2/3)*(log M0 - 16.1), where M0 is given in units of dyne-cm. Prior to February 1, 2006, the quantity (2/3)*16.1 was rounded to the value 10.73. For a small number of earthquakes, searches conducted after 2006/02/01 will give values for MW that differ by 0.1 magnitude unit from values given by searches prior to 2006/02/01.

More earthquake information

For information on earthquakes, including definitions of seismological terms, frequently asked questions, and definitions of magnitude scales, see the National Earthquake Information Center web site.

This web page was designed and developed by Erik Larson.
Maintained by G. Ekström and M. Nettles.
Last modified: March 30, 2013 (M. Nettles)