QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0Md

62 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 62 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 2:20 am AST on 17 September 2016 (06:20 UTC), 98 km deep.

· 98 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 97 kmAguadilla Municipio 101 kmRincón Municipio 102 kmAguada Municipio 104 kmIsabela Municipio 113 kmMoca Municipio 113 kmAñasco Municipio 115 km
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
Magnitude
M 3.0 (Md)
Depth
98 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 97 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3621 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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

Epicentre 18.9575, -67.9600. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 97 km (61 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 101 km (63 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 102 km (63 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 104 km (65 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 113 km (70 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 113 km (70 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 84 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.0 90 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 67 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.4 38 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.0 85 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.1 66 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.0 78 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.0 86 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.8 57 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 3.4 102 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.2 94 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.1 59 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.4 40 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 2.9 34 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.0 55 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico

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

On USGS

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