QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

92 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 92 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 9:16 pm AST on 21 April 2017 (01:16 UTC), 49 km deep.

· 49 km deep · released about 88 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 114 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 2.3 (md)
Depth
49 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 114 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3490 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 88 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 88 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 since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2016-08-27 — about 970 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.2 131 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 41 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 91 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 15 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 33 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 68 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 24 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 65 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 33 km SSE of this epicentre

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 19.1646, -64.6900. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 114 km (71 mi) SW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 128 km (80 mi) SW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 139 km (86 mi) SW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 140 km (87 mi) SW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 141 km (88 mi) SW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 146 km (91 mi) SW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 90 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 2.4 117 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 2.1 88 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.3 122 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 1.9 69 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 2.1 60 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 2.0 Virgin Islands
  8. 2.6 94 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 2.0 67 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 2.9 88 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 1.8 61 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 2.5 85 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.1 Virgin Islands
  14. 2.7 71 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 2.7 57 km N of Cruz Bay, 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.