Badge Quest
Do not seek out these events. They will find you. Badge Quest is a game, not an official alert source. Always follow official instructions from your local authorities and the alert itself. Not affiliated with FEMA, the National Weather Service or the FCC.

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RUMBLE badge: 8-bit pixel art for the Earthquake / ShakeAlert alert

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CORE BADGE

RUMBLE BADGE

ALERT
Earthquake / ShakeAlert
CODES
EQW · ShakeAlert
RARITY
★★★★☆ EPIC
UPGRADE
TECTONIC after 10 alerts

“Drop, cover, hold on. The floor held on too.”

⚠ Do not seek out these events. They will find you.

Never travel toward a storm, fire, flood or any emergency to earn a badge. This page is general safety information, not an alert. If you get a real alert, follow the instructions in it and from local officials.

What this alert means

An Earthquake Warning (EQW) on phones in the U.S. comes from ShakeAlert, the U.S. Geological Survey's earthquake early warning system for California, Oregon and Washington. It detects an earthquake as it starts and warns people nearby, sometimes seconds before strong shaking arrives.

Seconds are enough to take cover. That is the whole point of the alert.

What to do if you get one

  • Drop, Cover, and Hold On right away: drop to your hands and knees, cover your head and neck (under a sturdy table if one is close), and hold on until the shaking stops.
  • If you are in bed, stay there and cover your head with a pillow. If you are driving, pull over, stop and set the parking brake.
  • Stay away from windows and things that can fall. Expect aftershocks.
  • If you are near the coast and the shaking was strong or long, move to high ground in case of a tsunami.

Summarized from the official guidance below. The alert itself and your local authorities always come first.

How the badge is earned

A ShakeAlert-powered Earthquake Warning whose alert area covers your home area.

It happens automatically. The Badge Quest server reads the public FEMA IPAWS and National Weather Service alert feeds and awards the badge when an alert's official target area covers the home area you set (ZIP code or location). There's nothing to log or claim, and it can't be faked.

How rare is it?

EPIC ★★★★☆: the EPIC tier means 1 to 49 WEA messages a year nationally. ~29 WEA messages/yr nationally (2023-25 avg: 19 / 45 / 23).

WEA-flagged alert messages in FEMA's IPAWS archive (IPAWS archive filter: EQW). One message can cover a small area, so your personal odds are much lower.
YearRUMBLE messagesAll WEA messages
2023197,349
20244510,377
20252310,284
Avg / yr299,337

How rarity is calculated

Upgrade: TECTONIC

RUMBLE badgeTECTONIC, the upgraded RUMBLE badge: pixel art

TECTONIC

★★★★★ LEGENDARY

After 10 different qualifying alerts for your area, the game shows “Hold on... your RUMBLE badge is upgrading!” and then “Your RUMBLE badge was upgraded to a TECTONIC!”. Repeats of the same alert don't count twice.

“Ten ShakeAlerts. You can tell a P-wave from a passing truck. The plates respect you.”

Upgraded badges rank one rarity tier above their base badge (capped at LEGENDARY). That tier is a game rule, not a separate statistic.

Part of these combo badges

Official sources

Rarity data

Collect them all

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