QuakeML: status of the XML-based seismological data exchange format

QuakeML is an XML-based data exchange standard for seismology that is in its fourth year of active community-driven development. Its development was motivated by the need to consolidate existing data formats for applications in statistical seismology, as well as setting a cutting-edge, community-agreed standard to foster interoperability of distributed infrastructures. The current release (version 1.2) is based on a public Request for Comments process and accounts for suggestions and comments provided by a broad international user community. QuakeML is designed as an umbrella schema under which several sub-packages are collected. The present scope of QuakeML 1.2 covers a basic description of seismic events including picks, arrivals, amplitudes, magnitudes, origins, focal mechanisms, and moment tensors. Work on additional packages (macroseismic information, ground motion, seismic inventory, and resource metadata) has been started, but is at an early stage. Several applications based on the QuakeML data model have been created so far. Among these are earthquake catalog web services at the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), GNS Science, and the Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC), and QuakePy, an open-source Python-based seismicity analysis toolkit. Furthermore, QuakeML is being used in the SeisComP3 system from GFZ Potsdam, and in the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP) testing center installations, developed by Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC). QuakeML is still under active and dynamic development. Further contributions from the community are crucial to its success and are highly welcome.