---
id: obspy
version: "1.5.0"
license: GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 3 (LGPLv3)
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# obspy — ObsPy - a Python framework for seismological observatories.

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 227.1K/mo

## What it is and what it does

ObsPy is a mature, production-grade Python framework designed for seismological research and observatory operations. It abstracts the complexity of reading, writing, and processing seismic waveform data in multiple formats—including MiniSEED, SAC, and StationXML—and provides clients to query major data centers like IRIS and FDSN. The library combines signal processing (filtering, tapering, cross-correlation) with array analysis and focal mechanism tools, all built on numpy and scipy.

The package is intended for rapid application development in seismology, from quick exploratory analysis to production data pipelines. It handles the full workflow: fetching data from remote servers, parsing heterogeneous file formats, applying instrument corrections, and generating publication-ready plots via matplotlib. With active development, broad Python version support, and no known security vulnerabilities, it is a stable choice for seismic data work.

Use it for:

- Download and process earthquake waveforms from FDSN data centers for event analysis and magnitude estimation.
- Parse and convert between multiple seismic file formats (MiniSEED, SAC, StationXML) in batch workflows.
- Apply signal processing (filtering, tapering, deconvolution) to seismic traces for noise reduction and feature extraction.
- Perform array beamforming and cross-correlation analysis on multi-station seismic networks.
- Generate focal mechanism and beachball plots from earthquake event data for publication.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

ObsPy provides a Python framework for processing seismological data, including parsers for common file formats, clients to access data centers, and signal processing routines for manipulating seismic time series.

Yes. ObsPy is a well-maintained, production-stable framework with no security vulnerabilities, broad platform and Python version support, and active development. The medium install friction is justified by its comprehensive seismology toolkit. Install it if you work with seismic data; the dependency footprint is standard for scientific Python.

## Install

pip install obspy
uv add obspy
poetry add obspy

## Installing obspy

Before you install: Medium install friction due to 8 runtime dependencies including numpy, scipy, and matplotlib. Actively maintained with recent commits and broad Python version support from 3.8 through 3.14, with pre-built wheels available across major platforms.

License in practice: Licensed under GNU Lesser General Public License v3 (copyleft). Any derivative work or modifications must be distributed under compatible terms, though linking to the library in proprietary code is permitted under LGPL's linking exception.

Quickstart:

pip install obspy

import obspy
st = obspy.read('seismic_data.mseed')
st.plot()

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package requires additional system libraries (e.g., for XML parsing via lxml) beyond what pip installs
- Performance characteristics when processing large seismic datasets or real-time streams

## Package facts

- License: GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 3 (LGPLv3) (copyleft)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: medium
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 227.1K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

seismic data processing python, earthquake waveform analysis, seismology data parser, FDSN data access client, seismic signal filtering, waveform time series manipulation, seismological observatory framework, seismology, geophysics, scientific-data

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