Happy New Year Don!

Thanks for the comments.

Any error in location and/or lat/long originates with USGS, as I copy these directly from NEIC, which in transformation to a TXT file creates this awful jamming together of numbers, on which you have commented previously. My method is to delete quakes of lesser magnitude using my delete button, and I only touch the line to separate out the magnitude for clarity.

At the beginning of the Digest I post a caveat designed to cover changing numbers and letters. I continue to post the jammed line because my main interest is in the date, time, magnitude and stated location of quakes, but as you point out, there is interest in the latitude, longitude and depth also.

What can I say? If I had to correct each number, my basis would still have to be USGS reports, from which the error came. What I have done is to overlap 6M reports, and sometimes the inaccuracies become obvious. Red Puma cannot be the basis because they themselves point out that their automated reports are sometimes inaccurate or just downright false. I'll stick with USGS.

Since I cannot be totally accurate using preliminary data, the best I can claim for my listings is that they help inform the reader of global trends.

Someday when USGS again reestablishes a timely and reliable TXT reporting, my job and your reading will get easier.

A resolution for USGS?

Donald