Earthquake catalogs for the USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps

We describe a methodology that has been developed at the U.S. Geological Survey for making earthquake catalogs for seismic hazard analysis and review the status of the catalogs for the conterminous United States. A new catalog is assembled from several pre‐existing catalogs. Uniform moment magnitudes and related parameters for estimating unbiased seismicity rates are calculated. Duplicates, explosions, mining‐related earthquakes, and induced earthquakes are flagged, and the catalog is declustered. Distinct catalogs are made for the central and eastern United States and the western United States.