xMap data

Natural hazards

Natural hazards brings in what is happening now, anywhere in the world: earthquakes, floods, tropical cyclones, volcanoes, droughts and wildfires. Look around your own places (stores, depots, suppliers, insured properties), inside an area, around a point or worldwide. Each event comes with its level (green, orange or red), its strength, when it started and how far it is from your place; or each of your places gets a count of what is near it, so you can keep only the ones at risk.

In the editor: Natural hazards happening now around your places, in an area or anywhere in the world: earthquakes (USGS), floods, tropical cyclones, volcanoes and droughts (GDACS, the UN and European Commission’s disaster alerts) and wildfires seen by satellite (NASA FIRMS). Each event comes with its level (green, orange or red), its strength, when it started, where it is and how far from your place; or each of your places gets a count of what is near it.

Settings

Hazards

Pick one or more

Earthquakes come from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), worldwide. Floods, tropical cyclones, volcanoes and droughts come from GDACS, the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System of the United Nations and the European Commission. Wildfires are the fire hotspots NASA’s satellites see (grouped into fire areas of about 10 km).

  • Earthquakes
  • Floods
  • Tropical cyclones
  • Volcanoes
  • Droughts
  • Wildfires

Where

Pick one

Automatic looks around the places that reach this block when they have a position, else inside the Area of interest before it. Each incoming place: up to 200 a run. The whole world needs no place at all.

Around the places that reach this block when they have a location, otherwise in the Area of interest before it.

  • Automatic
  • Each incoming place
  • Area of interest
  • A point
  • The whole world

Point (latitude, longitude)

Text

A position as latitude, longitude, such as 35.6762, 139.6503 for Tokyo.

Within

Pick one

How far from each place or the point an event still counts as near. The distance is to the event’s position (an earthquake’s epicentre, a cyclone’s latest position, the middle of a flood or a fire area).

How far from each place or the point an event counts as near.

  • 10 km
  • 25 km
  • 50 km
  • 100 km
  • 250 km
  • 500 km

Happened

Pick one

An event counts when it started, or was still going on, in that time. Satellite wildfires go back 5 days at most.

Events that started or were still going on in that time. Wildfires seen by satellite: the last 5 days.

  • Last 24 hours
  • Last 3 days
  • Last 7 days
  • Last 30 days

Smallest earthquake

Pick one

The smallest earthquake kept. Magnitude 4.5 and above are measured everywhere in the world; smaller ones mostly where USGS has close sensors (the United States, for example).

Magnitude 4.5 and more are felt widely; 2.5 includes small ones (mostly measured in the United States).

  • Magnitude 2.5 or more
  • Magnitude 4.5 or more
  • Magnitude 5 or more
  • Magnitude 6 or more
  • Magnitude 7 or more

Level

Pick one

GDACS gives its events a level. Earthquakes use USGS’s alert when it gives one, else their magnitude (6 or more orange, 7 or more red). Wildfires: by the hotspots seen (20 or more orange, 100 or more red).

GDACS’s alert level for its events; earthquakes by USGS’s alert, else by magnitude (6 orange, 7 red); wildfires by their size.

  • Any level (green, orange or red)
  • Orange or red
  • Red only

Pass on

Pick one

The events go on as items, or your places go on, each with its counts.

The events go on, the most serious first, each with near (which of your places) and distance_km.

  • The events found
  • Each incoming place, with counts

Most events

A number

The most serious events first, up to 500 a run.

Up to 500 a run, the most serious first.

What comes out

Each item that leaves the block carries these fields, to use in the blocks after it as {{field}}.

Each event, as an item

The events found: the most serious first, then the newest.

  • name: What it is and where.
  • hazard: Earthquake, Flood, Tropical cyclone, Volcano, Drought or Wildfire.
  • alert_level: Green, Orange or Red.
  • severity: Its strength in words.
  • started, ended, updated: When it began, ended or was last seen, and was last updated.
  • country, place: Where, as the source says it.
  • lat, lng: Its position, for a map.
  • near, distance_km: Which of your places it is near, and how far (area mode: area).
  • magnitude, depth_km, tsunami, felt: Earthquakes: magnitude, depth, a tsunami flag and how many people reported feeling it.
  • wind_kmh: Tropical cyclones: the highest wind speed.
  • hotspots, fire_power_mw: Wildfires: the fire hotspots seen and their total power.
  • area_km2: Droughts: the area affected.
  • link, source: The event’s page at USGS, GDACS or NASA FIRMS, and which it is.

Each of your places, with counts

Pass on: Each incoming place, with counts.

  • hazards_nearby: How many events are near it.
  • hazard_level: The highest level near it, or None.
  • nearest_hazard, nearest_hazard_km: The nearest event and how far it is.
  • earthquakes_nearby, floods_nearby, cyclones_nearby...: A count for each kind you picked.
  • strongest_quake: The largest magnitude near it.
  • hazards_list: The five nearest, in one line.

How to use it

Insurance

Hazards near the properties we insure

By breakfast the claims team knows which policyholders to call first.

Logistics

Hazards at the ports we ship through

A typhoon or flood at a port is seen the day it starts, with days to reroute.

Non-profit

Serious disaster alerts worldwide

One feed of orange and red alerts, the hour they are raised.

Retail

Stores near an earthquake or flood

A retail chain with stores in Mexico City, Lima and Santiago wants to know the same morning which stores sit near a strong earthquake or a flood.

Before: Store managers phoned head office after the news.

With the flow: Operations sees the stores at risk before opening time.

FMCG distribution

Suppliers in a cyclone’s path

A beverage distributor in Manila buys from plants across the Philippines and Vietnam.

Energy

Wildfires near power lines

Satellite hotspots near a line come in hours, not days.

Hospitality

Guests in a storm

Hotel teams prepare before guests start asking.

Government and cities

Earthquakes felt in the region

Each new quake lands on the map with its magnitude and depth.

Agriculture

Drought over the growing areas

A drought is a large region: the farms inside it are counted.

Good to know

  • 2 credits for each place, point or area checked; the whole world counts as one.
  • Earthquakes come from USGS, floods, cyclones, volcanoes and droughts from GDACS, and wildfires from NASA FIRMS’s satellites; each event links to its page there.
  • The worldwide lists are read once and shared: USGS and GDACS receive nothing from your flows. NASA FIRMS receives only the boxes around the places checked for fires.
  • Satellite wildfires go back 5 days at most. For The whole world, wildfires are GDACS’s larger fires.
  • A wildfire area counts when the satellites saw 3 hotspots or more in it, or one strong hotspot they are sure of: a single small hotspot is most often a farm, waste or factory fire.
  • A drought covers a large region: a place counts as near it when it is inside the drought’s rough extent.
  • If one source does not answer, the others still come in and the step says which was missed.
  • Put Only new after it so each event comes once: it knows an event by its id.
  • These are public alerts, not forecasts of damage. Check the source before acting on an event.

Works well with

  • My data: Brings in a table you uploaded or a list you saved on the My data page: your stores, customers, target accounts or sites.
  • Filter: Keeps only the items that match a rule.
  • Only new: Lets through only the items this flow has not found before, so a daily flow sends only what is new.
  • xMap LLM: Tell the AI what to do in plain words.
  • Email: Sends one email per run with all the items, or one email per item.
  • Show on a map: Shows the results as points on a map, with the area of interest.
  • Slack: Channel-based messaging platform
  • Area of interest: Sets where the flow looks: countries, cities or specific places, or areas you draw on a map.

Help articles

Try it

Build a flow with Natural hazards on the home page, no account needed, or book a call. Try it live