Data Visualization Project:

Earthquakes

Urooj Mohammad

MIS 6309

Kevin Crook

March 10, 2017

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 Table of Contents

Introduction to the data set ………………….…………………………………………………………………………..…….3

Layout of the data set ………………………………………………………………..………………………………………….…4

Data Cleansing of the data set …………………………………………………..……………………………………………..6

Types of analytical questions answered with this data set …………………………….……………………..….7

Specific Analytic Questions …………………….……………………………………………………………………………….10

Data Visualization with Description and Specific Analytic Questions ……………………………….……..11

Dashboard with Description ……………………………………………….…………………………………….…………….18

Mashup Dashboard with Description ……………………………………………………………………..……………….19

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 Introduction to the data set

After thoroughly researching, I found my data set on the Kaggle database website. The

name given to this data set is Significant Earthquakes, 1965-2016. From this title, you can

conclude that the time-period of this data set is from 1965 till 2016. The general information

included in this data set are dates, timings, locations, magnitudes, magnitude types and depths

of all major earthquakes during the time-period. On Kaggle, the owner (Arun Prakash) of this

used the National Earthquake Information Center in order to find the information about the

data set he has created. The NEIC is a source that compiles a seismic database that the public

can use as a means of research, and that’s exactly what Mr. Prakash did. Mr. Prakash has

structured this data set in such a simplistic way that any user could easily follow it thoroughly.

By only having 8 fields, Mr. Prakash allows his data set to be concrete and straightforward. He

did not put any unnecessary fields to this data set, which shows a sense of professionalism and

reliance. When a data set has, such characteristic mentioned above, the user can tell that there

will not be any error values or incomplete data values. If the user has basic elementary

knowledge of earthquakes, then they should be well on their way. The user should not have to

perform any further research due to the simplicity of the data set. My reasoning for praising

this owner is because while doing my research it has come to my attention that many data sets

were not complete or had invalid values. And for a user that can at time be frustrating because

in order to use Tableau, you need to have values that make sense. And the data set that I have

chosen has done that for me. The simplicity and authenticity of this data set is what has caused

me to thoroughly understand which different charts to use for each visualization. And

also, which questions could be answered using this data set.

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 Layout of the data set

The following is the layout of the data set:

• Date

• Time

• Latitude

• Longitude

• Type: There are 4 types of activities related to earthquakes; earthquake, explosion,

nuclear explosion, and rock burst. I mainly focused my data visualizations on

earthquakes because this had the most data available for the given time-period I was

interested in.

• Depth: This is a number that has a value between -1.1 and 700. This is basically the

measurement between the Earth’s surface and how far below the surface the

earthquake went.

• Magnitude: This is a number that has a value between 5.5 and 9.1. An earthquake is

assigned a number based on the Richter magnitude that shows the amount of energy

that is exerted. This number shows the severity and size of the earthquake. The higher

the number the more energy that was exerted, which results in more damages to occur.

• Magnitude Type: Magnitudes are based on a magnitude type (measurement) that is

recorded by a seismograph (tool used to measure the size of earthquakes). The scales

within this measurement are; MB (body-wave magnitude), MD (duration), MH (visual

estimate), ML (local magnitude), MS (surface-wave magnitude), MW (moment

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 magitude), MWB (moment tensor), MWC (moment magtidue derived), MWR (moment

magnitude derived) and MWW (moment magnitude derived).

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 Data Cleansing of the data set

No data cleansing was performed on the data set.

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 Types of analytical questions answered with this data set

First, you could answer questions regarding information about the location of

earthquakes. By using the longitude and latitude coordinates, provided in the data set, you

could figure of the location on a map of all the earthquakes that have occurred in the world

from 1965 to 2016. Specially, you could use a map data visualization type in order to get an

exact pin point of which country this earthquake has occurred in. Furthermore, by already

putting this data into a map, you could also put in the average magnitude and depth within this

map as well. So, that once this map data visualization is complete it would be showing pin

points for the significant earthquakes with their magnitude and depth included as well. From

this visualization, you could conclude which earthquake (based on country) has the highest

magnitude or the lowest. And, which earthquake (based on country) has the less depth or most

depth. This visualization will give you a bigger picture as to which parts of the country deal with

the highest/lowest magnitude, along with the less/most depth.

Second, you could answer questions regarding information about the occurrence of

earthquakes. By counting the number of occurrences for a type, (which is field in this data set

for types of activities an earthquake has but I mainly focused on earthquakes) you could

eventually figure out how many times earthquakes have happened within a given time-period.

You could use this information in order to see if the number of earthquake, based on the

previous years, is either increasing or decreasing. And based on that conclusion, you could

predict if the number of earthquakes is going to grow or decreased for the future. By putting

this information in a chart and using the previous analytical question, you could potentially

figure out the location and the number of earthquakes that will occur within that given time

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frame. By using the previous question, you could predict what certain location will get the most

earthquakes based on the number given from the chart. You could possibly just distribute the

number given from the chart into the locations that seem most fit.

Third, you could answer questions regarding information about the occurrence of

magnitude types (scale for the measurement recorded by a seismograph) for earthquakes. By

counting the number of occurrences for magnitude types, you could eventually figure out what

type of magnitude had occurred during a certain time-period. For each given year of a certain

time-period, you could determine which magnitude types has occurred the most for

earthquakes. You could put this data in a bar graph data visualization type so that you could

compare the number of each occurrence for the magnitude types. So, that you could

potentially determine which scale was the most accurate based on the previous visualizations.

This visualization could possibly show what scale is the best to use when it comes to the

measurement of earthquakes because of the amount is was used over the given time-period.

Fourth, you could answer questions regarding information about the occurrence for the

different levels of magnitude and depth of an earthquake given a certain year. By counting

these two types of data, you could conclude what level of magnitude or depth that has

occurred the most in each year. The level of magnitude ranges from 5.5 till 9.1 and the level of

depth ranges from -1.1 till 700. So, from this data visualization you could possibly figure out

what levels of magnitudes and depths to consider when it comes down to the next year of the

given time-period you are using. This visualization, put together with the previous ones, could

be used as means of preparation. So, that countries could be ready for evacuation beforehand

based on the severity of the earthquakes. By using this visualization, you could establish which

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level of magnitude and depth that has occurred the most given based on the year chosen. So,

that in the following years, you have a general idea as to what level of severity you should

expect and be prepared for based on the previous year’s counts.

Lastly, you could answer questions regarding information about the occurrence of

earthquakes based on time. Along with knowing the severity and location of earthquakes, it is

also important to know the estimation of what time an earthquake can occur the most. For this

question, rather than focusing on one year or certain time-period, all the years will be

accounted for so that you could get a bigger picture. By creating a data visualization for this

data question, you could potentially figure out at what time during the day do most

earthquakes occur the most. And by combing the previous visualizations, you could most

definitely figure out locations, severity, occurrence and time of future earthquakes that are

going to occur. This visualization is crucial because it gives people a sense of idea as to what

time they should expect an earthquake to occur. By having this information, they could prepare

beforehand and have the least amount of damage done. At the end of the day, by using all

these data visualizations, you would most likely be saving millions of lives.

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 Specific Analytic Questions

1. In which locations, do earthquakes have the highest and most average of magnitude?

List out the general average magnitude as well.

2. In which locations, do earthquakes have the highest and most average of depth? List out

the general average magnitude as well.

3. In the past 10 years, which year has had the most earthquakes to occur? Include the

number of earthquakes as well.

4. In the past 10 years, which magnitude types (for earthquakes) have had the highest

amount of occurrence based on year. List out the year. And based on that year, list out

the amount and name of the magnitude type.

5. For the year 2016, which magnitude for earthquakes has occurred the most? List out the

magnitude number and the amount.

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 Data Visualization with Description and Specific Analytic Questions

Locations of Earthquakes based on Magnitude

This data visualization is marking the locations of all the earthquakes with magnitudes with an

average between 5.5 and 9.1. The map shows which countries who have been effected by

earthquakes and what the magnitude of this earthquake was.

1. In which locations, do earthquakes have the highest and most average of magnitude?

List out the magnitude as well. South Asia (5.8 to 6.0 magnitude), East Asia (5.8 to 7.5

magnitude) and lastly West South America (5.8 to 6.0 magnitude).

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Locations of Earthquakes based on Depth

This data visualization is marking the locations of all the earthquakes with depths having an

average between -1.1 and 700. The map shows which countries who have been effected by

earthquakes and what the depths of this earthquake was.

2. In which locations, do earthquakes have the highest and most average of magnitude?

List out the magnitude as well. South Asia (12.0 to 15.0 depth), East Asia (12.0 to 19.99

depth) and lastly West South America (29.9 to 33.0 depth).

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Number of Earthquakes based on the past 10 years

This data visualization counts the number of earthquakes that have occurred during a certain

year. The counts shows the number of earthquakes that happened within that year.

3. In the past 10 years, which year has had the most earthquakes to occur? Include the

number of earthquakes as well. The year is 2011 and the number of earthquakes is 713.

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Number of Magnitude Types for Earthquakes based on the past 10 years

This data visualization shows which magnitude types were used to measure the magnitude of

earthquakes that were used the most within a given years. Within each year, each magnitude

type was used multiple time but certain magnitude types were used more than others.

4. In the past 10 years, which magnitude types (for earthquakes) have had the highest

amount of occurrence based on year. List out the year. And based on that year, list out

the amount and name of the magnitude type. The year was 2011 and the magnitude

type with the amount and name is: MWW (350), MWC (139), MWB (82) and MWR

(133).

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Count for the Magnitude for Earthquakes in 2016

This data visualization counts the number of times each magnitude has occurred during the

2016 year. Each magnitude is shown as occurring a certain number times in 2016.

5. For the year 2016, which magnitude for earthquakes has occurred the most? List out the

magnitude number and the amount. Earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.5 has occurred

the most with a total of 95 occurring in 2016.

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Count for the Depth for Earthquakes in 1965 to 2016

This data visualization counts the number of times a certain depth of an earthquake that has

occurred from 1965 till 2016. Each depth is shown as occurring a certain number times within

this time-period.

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Time Count for when most Earthquakes occur

This data visualization shows the number of times an earthquake has occurred based on what

the time of day it was. The visualization is counting the number of earthquake that have

occurred during a given time.

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 Dashboard with Description

These 3-data visualizations on this dashboard combined show the time at which most

earthquakes occur and their location is based on the magnitude and depth. From this

dashboard, one can predict during what time and location the most severe earthquake can

occur.

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 Mashup Dashboard with Description

This dashboard shows the time at which most earthquakes have occurred based on the 1965-

2016 time-frame. The external website it related to this dashboard because it shows the time

for the most recent earthquakes that have occurred. This dashboard is now comparing the

occurrence of earthquakes based on the past time and current time.

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