How to use the JISHINDESU interactive map
A guide to the redesigned map panel: adding and switching places, ten years of history, filters, local Shindo readings, sharing and notifications.
A JISHINDESU editorial guide based on the cited official and primary materials. It does not replace official safety information.
On this page
1. Start with a place and the two tabs
The top of the panel always shows the selected place, a summary of the active filters, and the “Earthquakes” and “My places” tabs. On a phone, tap “Show list”; on desktop, the panel stays visible beside the map.
Use “+ Add a place” beside the tabs—or the + icon in the collapsed mobile panel—to go straight to location selection. Search for a city, choose a point on the map, or use GPS. Then enter your own label, choose the nearest-station range, and tap “Save this point”.
You can keep up to eight places. The first becomes the default and the star marks another as the new default. “Change” beside the current place lets you switch to any saved point or choose a new one. With at least two points, “All places” shows them together on the map and merges their matching events without duplicates. “My places” also previews recent local readings and links to the combined full history.
2. Share the same point and radius
Open “Location and filters” from the filter summary below the place name, then scroll to “Share this point”. JISHINDESU opens the system share menu or copies a link containing the point coordinates and current search radius.
Anyone opening the link sees the map set to the same area, regardless of their own location or previously saved preferences. JISHINDESU does not create a separate stored record of the link, but every recipient can read the shared point—do not send a precise home location unless you intend to disclose it.
3. Choose the right history mode and filters
“Nearby epicentres” finds earthquakes whose epicentres fall inside your radius. “Readings nearby” finds events with an actual JMA station observation inside that radius. The second mode is the better answer to “did it shake near me?”.
The default range is the past 24 hours. Under “Location and filters” you can choose 7 days, 30 days, or one year. The complete range of up to ten years is available through “Full history” under “My places”. Extra map filters set minimum magnitude, minimum Shindo, and maximum depth. The mode, radius, and period remain visible below the place name.
- Use “Readings nearby” to investigate shaking around your location.
- Use “Nearby epicentres” to study seismic sources around the point.
- No result does not automatically mean Shindo 0; a station may be absent from the report.
4. Review the combined history for your places
Under “My places”, open “Full history” to review earthquakes matching all your saved points in one place. This separate view is designed for longer analysis rather than a quick check of the current map.
Choose a period from 24 hours to ten years, select specific places, and filter by minimum local Shindo, the earthquake’s maximum Shindo, and magnitude. Each result shows a real reading from the nearest station within that place’s range, its epicentre distance, and the station’s distance from the point.
- Select one place or compare several saved points at the same time.
- Local Shindo is a station reading inside the saved radius, not an estimate at the exact coordinates.
- Place names stay on the device; history requests do not store them on the server.
5. Reveal the map and choose a display layer
On a phone, tap “Show more map” or drag the panel down. The collapsed bar still shows the place, result count and active conditions, while three icons add a place, open settings or restore the list. On desktop, the panel stays beside the map so both remain visible.
“Events” displays points and clusters, while “Density” makes areas with more earthquakes easier to spot.
In “All places”, the map fits every saved point and each result identifies the matching places and local Shindo. An earthquake matching several places remains one result. Marker colours and numbers are useful at a glance; open the event card for the complete values.
6. Open an event and compare Shindo observations
Tap a point or a row in the list. The map centres on the epicentre and isolates the selected event and its observations. The card shows JST time, magnitude, maximum Shindo, depth, tsunami status and coordinates. “Impact on saved places” lists the epicentre distance and nearest real observation separately for every matching point.
“Shindo by locality” contains actual station observations, so Kawasaki, Chiba and other places can be checked separately. Use “Share” to send a direct link to the report. JISHINDESU does not replace official JMA information.
7. Install the website as a PWA
Open the ☰ menu and choose “Install JISHINDESU”. In Chrome on Android or desktop, confirm the browser’s installation prompt. If it does not appear, open the browser menu and choose “Install app” or “Add to Home Screen”. Installation does not create an account or download earthquake history for offline use.
These instructions cover the website and Web Push. Android and desktop require a browser supporting Web Push. On iPhone or iPad with iOS/iPadOS 16.4 or later, add the website to the Home Screen, open its icon and allow notifications. This is an installed website (PWA), not the App Store app. Install JISHINDESU from the App Store or Google Play separately and configure notifications inside that app; browser subscriptions do not transfer automatically.
- Install only from the HTTPS site: https://jishindesu.jp.
- You can remove the installed app later like any other app or Home Screen icon.
- When offline, JISHINDESU does not present saved reports as current LIVE data.
8. Enable notifications for saved places
First save the points you care about, such as home, work or a family member’s location. Then choose “Notifications for this area” under “Location and filters”, or “Earthquake notifications” from the menu. JISHINDESU lists up to eight saved places, their corresponding JMA observation areas and the distance to each nearest station.
Select the places to monitor and choose a separate minimum Shindo for each one. Tap “Enable notifications” and accept the browser’s system permission prompt. If one earthquake meets the thresholds for several places, you receive one notification for the strongest matching observation. On iPhone, Web Push works after JISHINDESU has been added to the Home Screen and opened from its icon.
Choose a notification radius and minimum Shindo for the saved point. The condition applies to stations covered by that radius, including stations across municipal boundaries, not to the whole town or Japan-wide maximum Shindo. A station reading is not a measurement at your home. Older subscriptions without station coverage may still use a municipality; review and save their settings again.
When configuring notifications, the point's coordinates and radius are sent to the server to select stations. In the subscription, station identifiers, municipality associations, thresholds and technical delivery details are stored instead of the precise coordinates. Your own labels, such as “Home”, stay on the device. No account does not mean no data transmission; you can disable and delete the subscription in settings.
- A JISHINDESU notification concerns an already reported station reading meeting the configured coverage and Shindo threshold. It is not an Earthquake Early Warning, confirmation of a person's safety or a measurement inside a particular building.
- Only confirmed reports are sent; EEW messages are not used.
- A notification does not replace official JMA information and may be delayed or suppressed by the device or browser.
