Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
111 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 111 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 3:37 am AST on 21 June 2017 (07:37 UTC), 15 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Culebra Municipio, 119 km SSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3429 days ago
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 12 km (7 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 74 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 74 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 2016-09-04 — about 1,100 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 91 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 26 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.0 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 5 km E of this epicentre
- 5.6 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 10 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 97 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 38 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.2 99 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 34 km ESE 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 19.3495, -64.9770. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culebra Municipio, PR | 119 km (74 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Culebra Municipio |
| Fajardo Municipio, PR | 125 km (78 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio |
| Luquillo Municipio, PR | 134 km (83 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio |
| Río Grande Municipio, PR | 138 km (86 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio |
| Loíza Municipio, PR | 143 km (89 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Loíza Municipio |
| Canóvanas Municipio, PR | 148 km (92 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Canóvanas Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 64 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.3 74 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.0 73 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 1.9 86 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 2.3 82 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 4.0 121 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.2 81 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 83 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
- 2.8 94 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
- 2.2 89 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
- 2.1 82 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
- 1.7 88 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 94 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 92 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
- 2.8 86 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
- 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.