The National Centers for Environmental Information's entire strong motion three CD-ROM collection containing over 15,000 digitized and processed accelerograph records is available online. The data represent a broad range of structural and geologic recording environments. Three types of processed records are included on the CDs: uncorrected (raw), corrected (filtered), and response spectra (includes Fourier spectra).
- Other Sources of Earthquake Strong Motion Data
- Download the database (MS Excel; 5MB) - file contains over 15,670 records.
NOTE: This database is static and is no longer being updated.
Database Volumes
Records were contributed to the archive from various worldwide industrial, academic, and governmental sources.
Volume 1
Volume 1 contains California records for 1933-1988, as well as records fror Montana, Nevada, and Washington.
Volume 2
Volume 2 contains records for California (1989-1994) and all other USA states including Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington.
Volume 3
Volume 3 contains records for Non-US countries including Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Russia, El Salvador, Fiji, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey.
Complete Database
The Earthquake Strong Motion United States Events SE-0308 | NCEI
Data Retrieval and Documentation
The SMCAT (Strong Motion Data Catalog) contains a comprehensive database which summarizes the characteristics of each accelerogram and facilitates retrieval of records for specific applications from the CDs. Over 2,000 pages of documentation containing information on the triggering earthquakes, recording stations, record processing procedures, and when available the data format were digitally scanned (.PCX files) and included on the CDs.
Structural Records
Most of the strong motion archive consists of records obtained from various man-made structures. These sites include structures of engineering importance such as dams, bridges, utilities and large buildings. These records represent a comprehensive collection of accelerograph data suitable for the analysis of dynamic structural response and soil-structure interaction.
Free-Field Records
Approximately 5,000 records in the collection are available from ground response sites. Obtained from a wide variety of geologic environments, these records comprise an important subset useful for the study of seismic attenuation in a wide variety of regional geologic media ranging from young alluvium to hard rock. Several near source records included in the database are useful for source mechanism studies.
Special Array Records
Included in the archive are records from several accelerograph instrument arrays which are used to study specific problems in strong ground motion.
The CD Rom Archive consists of data formerly stored on floppy diskette, magnetic tape, and webpages, which was transferred to CD Rom format for future evaluation and preservation.