Data confidentiality

Why do you need my location?

A massive increase of traffic, suddenly detected on the websites (desktop and mobile), on the LastQuake app, or on Twitter, means an earthquake might have occurred and been felt by the population in a specific area.

To constrain the earthquake location and provide a rapid estimate of the earthquake epicenter, the EMSC seismologists need your location, which can be:: - your IP address, if you are visiting the desktop website; - your mobile phone location, if you are visiting the mobile website or LastQuake app; - a descriptive location in your twitter profile (i.e., city, country), if you are looking for the word ‘earthquake’ (or its translations in several languages) on Twitter.

If you felt an earthquake, you are an earthquake witness and can act as a seismic sensor for the EMSC seismologists and the community. By visiting our websites, by tweeting or by launching the app, you can immediately report the time and location of the earthquake.

Our crowdsourcing tools are praised for their high quality, reliability and accuracy. Among them, the LastQuake mobile app stands out as the most efficient tool, both in terms of rapidity and ease of use.

What data do you use and how do you use it?

To rapidly locate the earthquake and to improve public information, EMSC seismologists use a wide range of data:: - your location, to locate the seismic events; - felt reports, to create a map showing what people experienced during the earthquake; - comments, to gather testimonies of the event [we delete offensive comments]; - geo-located pictures and videos, to gather visual and audible testimonies of the event [we check them for possible copyright infringement].

We value the data that are shared with us. But, most importantly, we value the fundamental rights and freedoms of the persons that are related to that data. Hence, we keep all personal information private and secure under the GDPR.

We do not share, sell, or trade your personal information with anyone.

I have a question, whom should I contact?

Can’t find your question in the FAQ?
Email us at:

We’d be happy to help you.

How do you assign geographic names?

EMSC is a non political organization. Our policy concerning geographic names usage standardization follows:: - the UN rules when they exist, if not; - the EU rules when they exist, if not; - the French rules

We understand that geographic names standardization can be a sensitive topic, this is why we always stick to our established rules.