QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2md

16 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 16 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 12:01 am AST on 8 February 2018 (04:01 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

· 7.0 km deep · released about 64 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 88 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 2.2 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 88 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3114 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 17 km (11 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 64 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 230,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 170,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 15× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 64 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 4.3 on 2016-03-13 — about 1,300 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 18.7256, -68.3761. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 88 km (55 mi) SE earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 126 km (78 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 9 km NW of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.2 25 km E of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.2 19 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.2 13 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.7 24 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 1.9 17 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.3 26 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.1 46 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 1.9 27 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.5 31 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.2 22 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 2.1 31 km N of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.2 46 km NNE of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic
  14. 2.3 58 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.1 30 km SSE 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.