Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9Md
87 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 87 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 12:10 pm AST on 20 April 2017 (16:10 UTC), 12 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (Md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Aguadilla Municipio, 92 km SE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3411 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Caban, PR
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 30 km (19 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 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 2016-02-13 — about 45 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 19.0744, -67.7494. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aguadilla Municipio, PR | 92 km (57 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio |
| Rincón Municipio, PR | 97 km (60 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Rincón Municipio |
| Aguada Municipio, PR | 98 km (61 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Aguada Municipio |
| Isabela Municipio, PR | 102 km (63 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Isabela Municipio |
| Moca Municipio, PR | 105 km (65 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Moca Municipio |
| Añasco Municipio, PR | 109 km (68 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Añasco Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
34 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.8 50 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.8 50 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 109 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 3.4 59 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 3.0 58 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 82 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 74 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
- 3.3 62 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 2.6 68 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
- 2.6 98 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 2.1 75 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 3.1 65 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.4 81 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 2.9 90 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 3.0 99 km NNW of San Antonio, 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
- 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.