Earthquake Catalogs for the USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps

We describe a methodology that has been developed at the U.S. Geological Survey for making earthquake catalogs for seismic hazard analysis and review the status of the catalogs for the conterminous United States. A new catalog is assembled from several pre-existing catalogs. Uniform moment magnitudes and related parameters for estimating unbiased seismicity rates are calculated. Duplicates, explosions, mining-related earthquakes, and induced earthquakes are flagged, and the catalog is declustered. Distinct catalogs are made for the central and eastern United States and the western United States.