QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3md

69 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 69 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 5:35 am AST on 15 September 2017 (09:35 UTC), 53 km deep.

· 53 km deep · released about 1.4 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 10 kmRincón Municipio 80 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 85 kmAguada Municipio 88 kmHormigueros Municipio 91 kmAñasco Municipio 91 kmAguadilla Municipio 97 kmMoca Municipio 99 kmSan Germán Municipio 99 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 3.3 (md)
Depth
53 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 10 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3256 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 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 1.4 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.4 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.9× more

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 4.3 on 2017-06-22 — about 33 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 18.1111, -67.9741. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 10 km (6 mi) ESE earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 80 km (50 mi) ENE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 85 km (53 mi) E earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 88 km (55 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 91 km (56 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 91 km (57 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 45 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 2.9 44 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 63 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.2 24 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.2 78 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 64 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.0 36 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 Mona Passage
  9. 3.0 80 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 Mona Passage
  11. 3.3 40 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.0 48 km SSE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.2 47 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 2.3 43 km WSW of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.9 52 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

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.