QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6Md

Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded in the Virgin Islands, at 1:31 am AST on 4 December 2016 (05:31 UTC), 14 km deep.

· 14 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 85 kmFajardo Municipio 108 kmVieques Municipio 109 kmCeiba Municipio 117 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 2.6 (Md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 85 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3541 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. 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 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.0 on 2016-06-29 — about 130 times the energy of this one.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 18.7537, -64.6400. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 85 km (53 mi) SW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 108 km (67 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 109 km (68 mi) SW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 117 km (73 mi) WSW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 121 km (75 mi) WSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 130 km (81 mi) WSW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 64 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.0 66 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.3 86 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 2.7 76 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 2.8 83 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.1 78 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.0 91 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 3.2 66 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.0 74 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.1 99 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 2.8 72 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 2.2 76 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 2.3 58 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 2.7 74 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 2.2 22 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

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.