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Life & fun · December 11, 2015

Using PostGIS and CartoDB to identify schools at risk from earthquakes

A tutorial on using geospatial analysis, shapefiles and datasets from the U.S. Geological Survey, Census, and Department of Education to visualize the impact of Oklahoma

Using PostGIS and CartoDB to identify schools at risk from earthquakes launched on December 11, 2015 with 14 votes and more than 75% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 10 years on.

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In plain words

This tutorial demonstrates how to use PostGIS, SQL, and CartoDB to analyze geospatial data from the U.S. Geological Survey, Census, and Department of Education. It combines earthquake intensity measurements, school locations, and socioeconomic indicators to identify Oklahoma schools at risk from seismic activity. The interactive map color-codes schools by student poverty levels and census tracts by median household income, helping visualize the intersection of natural hazard exposure and community vulnerability.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

This CartoDB map shows the location of Oklahoma schools that are within areas in which USGS instruments measured an Modified Mercalli Intensity of at least 4.5 from the most powerful of Oklahoma's recent surge of earthquakes. The school locations are color-coded relative to the percentage of their students eligible for free or reduced lunch (a proxy for estimating the poverty level among students ). The U.S. Census tracts are color-coded relative to the median household income, as measured by the American Community Survey, Table B19013 . This visualization is the result of an exploratory exercise and so it comes with a lot of caveats that are explained below. However, it's meant to be an…from 2015.padjo.org

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