QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8Md

Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded in the Virgin Islands, at 6:55 am AST on 24 November 2016 (10:55 UTC), 19 km deep.

· 19 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 44 kmFajardo Municipio 66 kmVieques Municipio 70 kmCeiba Municipio 76 kmLuquillo Municipio 79 kmRío Grande Municipio 88 kmNaguabo Municipio 89 kmHumacao Municipio 98 kmCanóvanas Municipio 98 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 1.8 (Md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 44 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3640 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause 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 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 18.5963, -64.9994. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 44 km (27 mi) SW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 66 km (41 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 70 km (43 mi) SW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 76 km (47 mi) WSW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 79 km (49 mi) WSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 88 km (55 mi) WSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 29 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 2.4 35 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.1 26 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 2.6 41 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 3.3 72 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.1 53 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.2 59 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 5 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.2 74 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 2.0 16 km NNE of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 2.7 67 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.2 40 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 2.8 49 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 10 km WSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 2.9 67 km N of Culebra, 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.