seismicmaps.org

What It Is

U.S. Seismic Design Maps is an online seismic design map tool developed by SEAOC and OSHPD. It retrieves U.S. seismic design data through USGS Web Services and presents it in report format. The website clearly states that it does not calculate tabulated values itself, but instead serves as an interface for data lookup and presentation.

Core Features

Based on the extracted text, the product supports searches by address or latitude and longitude, and allows users to select reference standards such as ASCE 7-22, ASCE 7-16, ASCE 7-10, ASCE 41, NEHRP, and IBC. Users can also choose risk category, site class, and custom probability, making it suitable for engineers who need to quickly obtain seismic design parameters for a project location. The website provides channels for issue reporting and contact, and emphasizes that its source code is open source and can be copied on GitHub.

Pricing and Openness

There is no information about commercial subscriptions, enterprise plans, or paid add-on services. The site explicitly states that it is open source in order to keep seismic design data continuously free. As such, it is closer to a public technical tool than a typical commercial SaaS product.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are clear positioning, free access, open-source availability, and reliance on USGS services for data, while covering multiple important U.S. seismic design code versions. For structural engineers, researchers, and students, the query process is straightforward, and the report-style output is practically useful.

The limitations are also clear: the website disclaims responsibility for accuracy, and results should not be used directly in specific engineering applications without professional verification. It also does not disclose common enterprise software capabilities such as account systems, team collaboration, access control, SLAs, data security compliance, or customer support.

Who It’s For

It is suitable for structural engineers, architecture/civil engineering professionals, researchers, and educational use cases related to U.S. projects, especially for preliminary lookups, code comparisons, and report references. It is not suitable for teams that need full engineering design responsibility, review and approval workflows, or enterprise-level collaborative management.

Access from China

The extracted text does not provide information about access from mainland China. Since the service relies on overseas websites and USGS Web Services, actual connectivity should be verified through on-site network testing.