Earthquakes today are the seismic events included in the currently selected daily USGS feed. The list can contain small local earthquakes, offshore events, aftershocks, swarms, and larger globally recorded earthquakes. New detections may appear after their origin time, and preliminary details may change.
The total depends on the minimum magnitude and the completeness of regional monitoring. Use a consistent threshold when comparing one day with another, and avoid treating a raw event count as proof that worldwide earthquake activity is unusually high.
How to check earthquakes from the past 24 hours
Open the tracker and choose the past 24 hours. Start with all magnitudes for a broad view, or select a higher threshold for more consistent worldwide comparison. Sort newest first to follow recent reports or strongest first to identify the largest preferred magnitudes in the current result set.
Use the location text field to narrow results to a place name appearing in USGS descriptions. Because those descriptions can use nearby cities, islands, regions, or directional distances, try a broader regional term if a very specific search returns nothing.
Why today's earthquake details may change
Fast automatic solutions use the waveforms available shortly after detection. More stations, additional seismic phases, refined Earth models, and analyst review can change magnitude, depth, coordinates, event type, and place description. An updated record usually represents a refined solution rather than a second earthquake.
Interpreting a busy day of seismic activity
Earthquakes occur every day, and sensitive networks record many events too small to be widely felt. Aftershock sequences can also produce many records in one area. Compare equivalent feed settings and consult the official catalog before making historical claims or conclusions about changing global rates.