33 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

2016-09-02 21:34 UTC · 15 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.

When: 2016-09-02 21:34 UTC
Magnitude: M 1.7 (Md)
Depth: 15 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Culebra Municipio, 51 km SW
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3676 days ago · we first saw it 3676 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

Where

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 18.6441, -64.9633. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction
Culebra Municipio, PR	51 km (31 mi)	NE of here	earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR	72 km (45 mi)	ENE of here	earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR	76 km (47 mi)	NE of here	earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR	82 km (51 mi)	ENE of here	earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR	84 km (53 mi)	ENE of here	earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR	93 km (58 mi)	ENE of here	earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

36 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

2.3 68 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico 19:50 UTC
2.3 47 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands 18:11 UTC
2.0 76 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands 12:40 UTC
2.5 40 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands 17:07 UTC
1.9 73 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands 14:24 UTC
1.6 70 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands 14:23 UTC
1.9 69 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands 14:22 UTC
2.0 68 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands 14:21 UTC
2.2 28 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands 01:19 UTC
1.8 68 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands 16:44 UTC
2.5 71 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands 09:26 UTC
3.1 75 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico 05:12 UTC
2.2 50 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands 20:16 UTC
1.8 57 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands 19:59 UTC
2.1 61 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands 01:46 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 21:39 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.