Old Kashgar

Back in July, Stefan Geens of Ogle Earth had a chance to visit Kashgar, a city in west China. It's a place he's wanted to visit for a long time, but had to hurry to see it; the government is in the process of demolishing 85% of the old town!

He spent more than a week in the city, photographing and documenting everything he possibly could. The result is nothing short of amazing.

As you can likely guess, Stefan took all of that data (georeferenced photos, GPS tracks and a superimposed map) and created an impressive file for Google Earth.

You can download that KMZ file here, and I highly recommend you visit his blog to read the entire story.

Visualising Startups with Google Maps

FormsDs.com

Form Ds are filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to show new business funding. Every startup is required to file how much money they have raised and this data is available from the commission. This site adds the daily filings to Google Maps so that users can see which companies around them are starting up and/or expanding.

From the map you can see the hubs of startup activity in the US on a daily basis. The map updates in real-time throughout the day as new filings arrive at the SEC. A quick look at the map at 7 am (EST) will show the map largely empty but by the evening it will be full of map markers displaying new business financings.

The map could also be a good source for people to see new businesses in their area that might be hiring. Every business that files a Form D has new funds to spend!

21st Century Geoglyphs on Google Maps

Tokyo Zoo Project



Over the last five years some of the most imaginative uses of the Google Maps API have come from Japan. The Tokyo Zoo Project from Sony is another inspired map that really showcases the power of Google Maps. 

Sony have taken the street map of Tokyo and drawn a number of animals using the city's road system. The result is a collection of animal geoglyphs that you can view on Google Maps. 

You can select any of the animals on the map and follow the outline route that was used to create the animal. The map animates the route and shows photographs of points of interest that can be seen on the journey.

New Google Earth Imagery - September 8

Google Earth has just rolled out some fresh imagery for us! Thanks to GEB reader 'orb2222' for being the first to let us know about it.

As is almost always the case, you can use Google Maps to determine for sure whether or not a specific area is fresh. This new imagery isn't in Google Maps yet, so you can compare Earth vs. Maps to see what's new; the fresh imagery is already in Google Earth, but the old imagery is still in Google Maps. If you compare the two side-by-side and they're not identical, that means that you've found a freshly updated area in Google Earth!

[UPDATED -- 8-September, 8:59pm EST]

• Canada: Quebec -- thanks 'Steven'
• China: Western areas -- thanks 'Steven'
• Ecuador: Latacunga -- thanks 'Snakeye'
• Kyrgyzstan: Western areas -- thanks 'Steven'
• Poland: Various cities -- thanks 'orb2222'
• Spain: Basque Country -- thanks ''Neutravo'
• Sri Lanka: Various -- thanks 'Steven'
• United States: NW Bay Area, CA : Dover, DE : Louisville, KY : Philadelphia, PA : Houston, TX : Richmond, VA : Spokane, WA -- thanks 'belmaktor', 'Steven' and 'ChrisK'

If you find any other updated areas, please leave a comment and let us know!

Time-Lapse of the Christchurch Earthquake

Christchurch Quake Map

The Christchurch Quake Map uses Google Maps to display an animated timeline of the recent New Zealand earthquake and its aftershocks.

The map plots earthquake data from GeoNet. The size of the circles animated on the map represent the level of magnitude of the shocks and the colour represents the focal depth.

You can pause and resume the animation. You can also rewind to the beginning of the animation or slow down the playback. The "Jump to" links beside the map allow you to start playback 3, 6, 9, 12 or 24 hours before the current time, so you can view the latest tremors.

Hat-tip: Street View Funny

Also See

• Stuff.co.nz Post Quake Services - map of post-earthquake services available in Christchurch.
• Mapping Quakes in Canterbury - mapped storyboard of seismic activity for the Christchurch earthquake

Christchurch: Post Quake Services Map

Stuff.co.nz Post Quake Services

New Zealand website Stuff.co.nz has created a Google Map to show important post-earthquake services available in Christchurch.

The map shows road and bridge closures, water tankers where residents can collect drinking water, portaloos and welfare centres. The map also includes an animated map marker that shows the epicentre of the earthquake.

Also See

Mapping Quakes in Canterbury - mapped storyboard of seismic activity for the Christchurch earthquake