usgs_earthquake_feed
USGS official earthquake summary feed by period and minimum magnitude. period: hour|day|week|month. min_mag: 1.0|2.5|4.5|significant. Returns all events worldwide above the threshold within the period, with magnitude, location, depth, and event detail URL.
This record as markdown: /tools/io-github-blackboxfoundry-livedatalink/usgs-earthquake-feed.md
What usgs_earthquake_feed does on Livedatalink
AI agents call usgs_earthquake_feed to retrieve information from Livedatalink without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
period | string | — | Time window (default 'day') |
min_mag | string | — | Minimum magnitude threshold (default '2.5') |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why usgs_earthquake_feed is rated Low
This tool retrieves publicly available seismic event information from USGS—a read-only query operation. There are no side effects, no data modification, no code execution, and no financial impact. The tool simply aggregates and filters existing earthquake data based on user-specified criteria. Misuse by an AI agent would be limited to information access, posing minimal security risk.
From the tool's definition Tool description states it 'Returns all events worldwide' with earthquake data including 'magnitude, location, depth, and event detail URL.' The verb 'Returns' indicates data retrieval with no modification or execution capability.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs usgs_earthquake_feed safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Livedatalink, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For usgs_earthquake_feed, this is the rule to start with:
usgs_earthquake_feed is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Livedatalink, apply this rule, and every usgs_earthquake_feed call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about usgs_earthquake_feed
USGS official earthquake summary feed by period and minimum magnitude. period: hour|day|week|month. min_mag: 1.0|2.5|4.5|significant. Returns all events worldwide above the threshold within the period, with magnitude, location, depth, and event detail URL. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Livedatalink MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
usgs_earthquake_feed accepts 2 parameters: period, min_mag. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Livedatalink MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for usgs_earthquake_feed: 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 Livedatalink. Nothing to install.
usgs_earthquake_feed 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 usgs_earthquake_feed 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 usgs_earthquake_feed. 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.
usgs_earthquake_feed is provided by the Livedatalink MCP server (https://livedatalink.ai/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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