Global Centroid Moment Tensor Project
Global CMT Web Page
Introduction and Explanation
The Global Centroid-Moment-Tensor (CMT) Project is overseen by
Principal Investigator Göran Ekström and Co-Principal
Investigator Meredith Nettles at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
(LDEO) of Columbia University. The project was founded by Adam Dziewonski
at Harvard University and operated there as the Harvard CMT Project
from 1982-2006, led first by Prof. Dziewonski and later by Prof. Ekström.
During the summer of 2006, the activities of the CMT Project
moved with Prof. Ekström to LDEO.
This research effort moves forward under the name "The Global CMT Project".
The main dissemination point for information and results from the
project is the web site
www.globalcmt.org
The CMT project has been funded by the
National Science Foundation since its inception.
Shallow earthquakes, 1976-2005.
The Global CMT Project involves four main activites:
Systematic determination, with a three-to-four-month delay,
of moment tensors for earthquakes with M>5 globally,
and accumulation of the results in the CMT catalog.
Rapid determination of moment tensors for earthquakes with M>5.5
globally and quick
dissemination of results ("quick CMTs").
Curation of the CMT catalog, which contains more than 25,000 moment
tensors for earthquakes since 1976.
Development and implementation of improved methods for the
quantification of earthquake source characteristics on a global scale.
How to cite the CMT catalog:
The Global CMT project is a research activity funded by the National Science Foundation, and we greatly appreciate users of the catalog including appropriate citations to our work in their published articles. Please see the following link for suggestions of the appropriate papers to cite depending on your usage of the catalog:
how to cite the Global CMT catalog
Links to CMT resources:
CMT catalog web search
CMT catalog and Quick CMT ASCII files
Description of the CMT procedure
Article (Ekström et al., 2012)
describing CMT processing procedures,
results, and characteristics of the catalog through 2010
Special studies of particular earthquakes or sets of earthquakes
Glacial earthquakes
The 2010 Haiti earthquake sequence
The 2011 Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku sequence
The 2010-11 Gulf of Aden swarm
Events on the Eltanin fracture zone
Current events detected using surface waves
Waveform Quality Center (WQC)
updated daily
Please
email comments.
Last modified: March 5, 2026 (M. Nettles)