A few weeks ago, I started a "Fun With GIS" series, using ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education (AEJEE), ESRI's free, downloadable, dual platform (Win/Mac), lightweight GIS tool. This week, we'll do what a lot of folks want to do: map current events.

Of course, the type of current event matters. Redlands, CA, is in a tectonically active zone. The other night, I was "rocked awake". I looked at the clock and saw "2:43", felt the wiggle subside after about five seconds, and went back to sleep.

In the morning, I decided to make a map. I opened AEJEE and, following the process described in Lesson 5 of AEJEE's built-in tutorial, chose immediately to add a layer from the Geography Network. I added the "ESRI_Quake_Rec", which is an "image service" showing recent quakes. I zoomed in to the Los Angeles basin, and decided the display wasn't quite what I wanted. I added another layer, "ESRI_Quake_Rec_FS", which is a "feature service", allowing me to add a specific item. At the time I added a single layer for "Last Day", but now I have to add "Last Week" to get quakes from a few days back (Version [2] works when zoomed in). The "FS" layer allows me to change the symbology, so I shifted the color to cyan to highlight the symbol. (Pacific Daylight Time is 7 hours different from GMT.) The cyan dot along the diagonal line of mountains shows the 4.1 magnitude quake that woke me -- a little rumble about 8 miles away.

The Geography Network has some excellent content, but there are also many ArcIMS servers out there with interesting content about recent events. You can do an internet search using two items -- "ArcIMS" and the topic or region of your choice. Explore!

- Charlie Fitzpatrick, ESRI Education Manager