About / Priority Levels

P1/P2/P3 Priority Logic Explained.

Operational quick guide to escalation, de-escalation, and live ranking behavior across hazard streams.

P1 (Critical)

Highest operational urgency. Use it to prioritize immediate cross-hazard attention and escalation checks.

P2 (Elevated)

Strong signal under active watch. It requires tracking and can escalate to P1 if context worsens.

P3 (Baseline)

Background monitoring level. Still visible in vertical monitors, usually not promoted in high-priority lanes.

Operational Rules (Escalation / De-Escalation)

How a level changes over time

1. Escalate to P1: Triggered when hazard-specific severity reaches critical thresholds or active warning context appears.
2. Keep at P2: Elevated but not critical. Event remains monitored with explicit watch posture and frequent refresh checks.
3. De-escalate to P3: Applied when intensity and update velocity both decline and no critical context remains active.
4. Rank inside level: Quakrs orders events by score and recency inside each priority class.

Earthquakes

P1: magnitude >= 6.8, or magnitude >= 6.2 within ~120 minutes.
P2: magnitude >= 5.0 when P1 conditions are not met.
Score drivers: magnitude, recency boost, shallow-depth bonus.
Typical de-escalation: reduced follow-up intensity + no new critical updates.

Volcanoes

P1: strongest new eruptive signal during high eruptive cycle.
P2: new eruptive items or high-report bulletin cycles.
Score drivers: eruptive flag, bulletin rank, cycle intensity.
Typical de-escalation: bulletin cycle cool-down without strong eruptive updates.

Tsunami / Space Weather

Tsunami: active advisories can escalate directly to P1.
Space weather: Kp and storm tier determine P1/P2/P3 level.
Goal: maintain comparable urgency across different hazard types.
Typical de-escalation: warning/watch closure or geomagnetic decline below storming tiers.

Priority vs Official Alert Level

Do not treat them as identical fields

Priority (Quakrs): internal cross-hazard ranking used to order attention lanes.
Alert Level (official): authority-specific classification emitted by institutional sources.
Why they differ: a strong signal can be high-priority in Quakrs even before formal alert escalation.
Operator rule: use Priority for triage, then verify official advisory details in source-linked monitor pages.

Where Priority Is Visible

Operational navigation map

Home: top critical lanes and priority stream.
Timeline: chronological stream with hazard and priority filters.
Alerts: active advisories ranked by level and urgency.
Monitors: domain context beyond priority labels.

Open Timeline · Open Alerts · Open Data Status

Limits And Caveats

Operational transparency

Priority is a live operational ranking, not a legal warning system. Data latency, feed gaps, and cross-hazard normalization limits can affect ordering. For local protective decisions, always confirm official authority guidance.

Methodology Reference

Full technical background

Thresholds and score weighting evolve with operational calibration. Use this page for quick interpretation and open methodology for the complete technical rationale.

Open full methodology