WIZMAP II

EARTHQUAKE DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAM

by R.M.W. Musson
British Geological Survey

What is it?

Wizmap II is a program for investigating earthquake catalogues and macroseismic data sets. It is analogous to a GIS in its operation, except that as it just does seismicity data, it is rather easier to use. Wizmap II displays data files in map form with a choice of nine projections and two resolutions of coastlines (extra coastlines can be added if required). The user can interact with the data using a simple point-and-click interface. Version 2.051a is the currently available version since 21 March 2001

What can you do with it?

Identify earthquakes or data points by clicking on them in the map display. View the map at different scales by zooming in and out. View depth profiles across the seismicity at any point. Identify events within the depth profile, with optional rotatable 3D view. Filter the data by time, magnitude or depth limits. See animations of migrating seismicity. Extract subsets of a main catalogue matching desired time, space, magnitude and depth criteria. Draw polygonal zones and obtain analyses of the seismicity within each zone, with respect to maximum magnitude, Gutenberg-Richter curve, depth distribution, etc. View intensity data. Draw isoseismals and measure the area. Measure great circle distances on the fly. Plot station-event travel paths. And so on ...

Can you print maps from it?

Yes, up to a point. Wizmap II is intended principally as an on-screen analysis tool, not a mapping package. GMT by Wessel and Smith is so good a mapping program it’s pointless trying to compete with it. But if you want draft maps to work with (without scale or key), Wizmap II is fine and supports any Windows-capable printer.

What file formats does it recognise?

Thanks to a novel parsing routine, Wizmap II will read most data files that meet certain minimum requirements, without the need for them to be reformatted.

What are the computing requirements?

Wizmap II will run on most PCs supporting versions of Windows. The current version 2.05a will run on Windows 95, 98, NT or XP.

How much does it cost?

Nothing. It is being made available to the seismological community free of charge by the Seismology and Geomagnetism Programme of the British Geological Survey. Of course, neither do you necessarily get any support if you can’t make it work, but reasonable requests will be answered by email.

How can I obtain a copy?

By ftp. Just click here to obtain the archive file. Copy this file to a directory on your drive and extract the various files. Then run the Setup program to install Wizmap II on your computer.

What was Wizmap I?

An ancient mainframe seismicity mapping program written in 1980. It boasted 36 different map projections including some that were previously known only to theory, and one completely new one.

What other versions will be released?

Versions for other platforms are unlikely.

RMW Musson
29 August 2006