Get earthquakes near a specific geographic location. Searches for earthquakes within a radius of the given coordinates. Useful for assessing local seismic risk or investigating felt reports. Args: latitude: Latitude of the center point (e.g. 37.7749 for San Francisco). longitude: Longitude of the...
Part of the USGS Earthquakes server.
Free to start. No card required.
AI agents call get_earthquakes_near to retrieve information from USGS Earthquakes without modifying any data. This is common in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows where the agent needs context before taking action. Because read operations don't change state, they are generally safe to allow without restrictions -- but you may still want rate limits to control API costs.
Even though get_earthquakes_near only reads data, uncontrolled read access can leak sensitive information or rack up API costs. An agent caught in a retry loop could make thousands of calls per minute. A rate limit gives you a safety net without blocking legitimate use.
Read-only tools are safe to allow by default. No rate limit needed unless you want to control costs.
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"get_earthquakes_near": {}
}
}See the full USGS Earthquakes policy for all 3 tools.
These attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access get_earthquakes_near gives an agent. Each links to the full case and the policy that stops it:
Other read tools across the catalogue. The same approach applies to each: allow, with a rate cap to control cost.
Get earthquakes near a specific geographic location. Searches for earthquakes within a radius of the given coordinates. Useful for assessing local seismic risk or investigating felt reports. Args: latitude: Latitude of the center point (e.g. 37.7749 for San Francisco). longitude: Longitude of the center point (e.g. -122.4194 for San Francisco). radius_km: Search radius in kilometers (default 100, max 20001). min_magnitude: Minimum magnitude to include (default 1.0). days: Number of days to look back (default 30, max 365).. It is categorised as a Read tool in the USGS Earthquakes MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the USGS Earthquakes MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_earthquakes_near: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches USGS Earthquakes. Nothing to install.
get_earthquakes_near is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the get_earthquakes_near rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for get_earthquakes_near. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
get_earthquakes_near is provided by the USGS Earthquakes MCP server (https://mcp.olyport.com/earthquake/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 3 USGS Earthquakes tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
Free to start. No card required.
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