Earthquakes, did you feel it?

The US Geological Survey (USGS) “Did You Feel It?”® (DYFI) system is an automated system for rapidly collecting macroseismic intensity data from Internet users’ shaking and damage reports and generating intensity maps immediately following earthquakes.

Although the collection and assignment of DYFI-based Macroseismic Intensity (MI) data depart from traditional assignments, they are made more quickly, provide more complete coverage at higher spatial resolution, offer citizen input and interaction, and allow data collection at rates and quantities that were not previously possible. These aspects of Internet-based data collection, in turn, allow for data analyses, graphics, and ways to communicate with the public, opportunities that were not feasible with traditional data-collection approaches.