The Maps of the Week

Last year there were over 6,000 earthquakes with a magnitude of over 4.5. A Year of Earthquakes is an interactive map plotting all the earthquakes around the world in 2013.

Not only does the map plot every earthquake that occurred last year it also includes population density and mortality risk layers. Using these layers it is possible to view where earthquakes are most likely to cause high levels of death.

The time-line control beneath the map allows you to animate through the whole year's earthquake activity. You can adjust the control to show different time intervals during the animation (for example 10, 20, or 30 days). The marker for each earthquake displayed on the map is scaled by magnitude. You can also use the map controls to filter the magnitude of quakes you want visualized on the map.


Over the years Maps Mania has reported on a huge number of real-time transit maps around the world. These are transit maps which allow you to view the live movements of buses, trams and trains live on a map. Seetys is the first one that I've seen which allows you to follow the vehicles in 3d.

The Seetys Transport website provides real-time simulated maps of bus networks in a number of Spanish cities. The maps allow you to view each of the featured city's bus routes on a Google Map. The maps include the option to follow individual buses as they move in real-time. If you select the '3d simulation' option you can even follow individual buses in 3d using the Google Earth browser plug-in.


Sharing vs. Affordability is a Google Map which can help you find the areas in London where you can afford to rent a property. The map uses data from Find Property to visualize where you can afford to live on your own in London and where you would have to house-share.

Just use the slide control to enter how much rent you can afford to pay and the map shows the areas of London which are too expensive, where you can afford to rent on your own and where you would have to share with one, two or three other people.