I Built a 30-Line Earthquake Monitor in Python — Here's How
Description and use
A 30‑line Python script displays recent significant earthquakes in the terminal, replacing delayed Twitter alerts.
Problem
I wanted real‑time alerts for significant earthquakes but only received them via Twitter, which was delayed.
Outcome
The script provides a quick, terminal‑based view of recent significant earthquakes, improving situational awareness compared to delayed social‑media alerts.
Workflow
- Install the Rich library with
pip install rich - Create
quake_check.pywith functions to fetch and display data from the USGS feed - Run the script with
python3 quake_check.pyto see a table of recent significant earthquakes
Evidence
I found out about it 40 minutes later scrolling through Twitter. Forty minutes.
Run it: python3 quake_check.py
- Record date: 2026-09-11T04:16:00.680Z