QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

110 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 110 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 1:38 pm AST on 9 March 2018 (17:38 UTC), 26 km deep.

· 26 km deep · released about 920 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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 3.0 (md)
Depth
26 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 121 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3079 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 25 km (16 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 920 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 920 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 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 19.3873, -67.7858. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 121 km (75 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 129 km (80 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 129 km (80 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 129 km (80 mi) SSE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 135 km (84 mi) SSE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 137 km (85 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 74 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 121 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 76 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 114 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.0 117 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 124 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.0 84 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.1 Mona Passage
  9. 2.9 97 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 124 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.0 132 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.3 137 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 2.0 80 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.3 119 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 124 km NNE 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.