QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

14 km SSE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 14 km SSE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 1:53 am AST on 23 April 2018 (05:53 UTC), 40 km deep.

· 40 km deep · released about 130 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 62 kmVieques Municipio 75 kmFajardo Municipio 93 kmCeiba Municipio 94 kmLuquillo Municipio 105 kmNaguabo Municipio 107 kmHumacao Municipio 112 kmRío Grande 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 2.4 (md)
Depth
40 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 62 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3124 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 130 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 83,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 130 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 22 km NNE of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands · 37 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 36 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 48 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 29 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 17 km S 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 18.2190, -64.7270. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 62 km (39 mi) W earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 75 km (47 mi) W earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 93 km (58 mi) WNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 94 km (59 mi) W earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 105 km (65 mi) W earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 107 km (66 mi) W earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 35 km ENE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.0 28 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 2.7 11 km WNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 2.2 26 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 2.3 18 km SSW of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 2.6 17 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.0 34 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 2.2 19 km NW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.4 2 km ENE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 2.5 4 km SSE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.3 43 km ENE of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 2.8 26 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.1 43 km E of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 2.5 29 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 2.9 36 km ESE of Isabel Segunda, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.