Reference · built on requestCommons signalEarth, seismic & volcanic

IMO Quakes and Volcanoes API

Earthquake catalogue and volcano alert notices from the Icelandic Meteorological Office, as GeoJSON or CSV under CC BY 4.0.

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About

The Icelandic Meteorological Office, Veðurstofa Íslands, publishes its earthquake catalogue and volcano notices on api.vedur.is. The Quakes API returns events from 7 January 1991 to the present as GeoJSON or CSV, filtered by time, depth, magnitude, a WKT polygon, event type, and evaluation mode. The Volcanoes API lists Icelandic volcanoes, Volcano Alert Level System (VALS) notices, Volcano Observatory Notices for Aviation (VONA) with their Aviation Colour Code, and volcano weekly reports. Both are described by OpenAPI documents and licensed CC BY 4.0.

Through Fibric, an operator watches the events polygon around your sites and the VALS and VONA feeds for your volcano, then proposes a notice, a shuttle hold, or a site preparation step for your approval.

This is a reference listing. It documents what Fibric would read from IMO Quakes and Volcanoes API and what it could propose, based on the publisher's published interfaces. Fibric builds it under a managed deployment when you request it; selecting it here installs nothing.

Inputs

  • Earthquakes from /quakes/events with start_time, end_time, depth_min, depth_max, size_min, size_max, polygon, type, evaluation_mode, and format
  • Event counts from /quakes/events/count, and one event's origin, magnitude, and uncertainties from /quakes/events/{event_id}
  • Seismic regions from /quakes/regions: seismic areas, fracture zones, SIL alert areas, and seismic zones, as GeoJSON
  • Volcanoes from /volcanoes/volcanoes with plume heights and optional caldera-rim and fissure-swarm geometry
  • VALS notices from /volcanoes/vals with the alert level, colour code, and descriptions in Icelandic and English
  • VONA notices from /volcanoes/vona, newest first, with the Aviation Colour Code per volcano
  • Volcano weekly reports from /volcanoes/vwr and lookup tables from /volcanoes/properties

Proposed actions

Read-only. This feed informs operators; it changes nothing.

Proposed actions are target capabilities. Every action runs propose-first and needs a validated deployment and the appropriate permissions.

What you can build

  • Warn a site when its volcano changes alert level

    The operator polls /volcanoes/vals for your volcano code and, when a new notice raises the level, drafts the site notice with the English description for your approval.

    With Severe Weather Notice

  • Hold shuttle runs on a red aviation code

    When a VONA for the nearby volcano carries Aviation Colour Code RED, the operator proposes pausing airport shuttle departures and tells you which notice triggered it.

    With Shuttle Timing

  • Prepare a property for an eruption warning

    On a VALS change above normal background, the operator opens the property's preparation checklist and proposes the first steps, leaving a record of the notice id.

    With Storm Prep

Requirements

  • A WKT polygon for your area; the default covers Iceland and its surroundings
  • A rule for automatic solutions: evaluation_mode is manual or automatic, and event type applies only to manual events
  • The volcano code for your site, such as REY, HOF, or ASK, to read its VALS and VONA notices
  • A reference to the Icelandic Meteorological Office and the download date in anything you publish
Authentication
No key. The OpenAPI documents declare no security scheme and the endpoints answer plain GET requests; an optional x-vi-api-version header selects a version.

Limits

  • Quake queries accept depth 0 to 50 km and size -3 to 10, with a default size_max of 7
  • The SIL system is legacy and will eventually be phased out; the system parameter selects sil or seiscomp
  • IMO states that real-time data are preliminary and might change without notice
  • No push or webhook; you poll the endpoints and compare updated_time

Access and pricing

Reference listing. Public feed access is separate from Fibric integration. If you request this feed, your quote covers the build, usage, and support.

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Questions and answers

How far back does the IMO earthquake catalogue go?
Valid start_time and end_time values run from 7 January 1991 to midnight of tomorrow. Without parameters, /quakes/events returns the last 7 days up to the current time UTC.
What is the difference between VALS and the Aviation Colour Code?
VALS is IMO's Volcano Alert Level System for volcanic systems in Iceland. The Aviation Colour Code follows ICAO recommendations for air traffic and is independent of VALS, so the two may differ at any given time. VONA notices carry the aviation code.
Under what licence is the data published?
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), as declared in the OpenAPI documents. IMO's conditions add that reference must be made to the Icelandic Meteorological Office and the date of data downloading.
Ask about IMO Quakes and Volcanoes API

Ask about the capabilities and requirements in this listing.

For project-specific requirements, contact Fibric.

This Commons signal listing is developed, published, and supported by Fibric. It reads public data published by Icelandic Meteorological Office, Veðurstofa Íslands (api.vedur.is). Upstream agencies and projects are the property of their respective owners, who are not affiliated with Fibric and do not sponsor or endorse this listing. Trademark policy