Read the earthquake dashboard
Interpret the summary, chart and table with their source and period.
Start with the scope
The earthquake view summarises a defined set of catalogue records for a displayed period. Check the period and source before interpreting a count or magnitude. Catalogue rows and unique physical events are not always the same thing.
Read the summary and evidence
Use the chart and table together rather than treating a headline number as a complete description.
- Read the displayed period and update state.
- Find the largest displayed magnitude in the summary.
- Locate the relevant displayed record in the table and compare its event time.
- Check the source and any partial-result notice before describing the whole period.
When results are limited
If the result is marked truncated or partial, its summary describes the displayed records. Do not report the largest displayed event as the maximum of the entire catalogue. A null or unavailable value is missing information, not zero.
Keep the context
When sharing an interpretation, keep the period, source and coverage with it. A capture of a previous result is not a live reading. Use the update guide to distinguish the observation time, retrieval time and last successful processing.