QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

64 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 64 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 8:48 pm AST on 12 May 2018 (00:48 UTC), 125 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 125 km deep · released about 1,500 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 86 kmRincón Municipio 87 kmAguadilla Municipio 87 kmAguada Municipio 90 kmMoca Municipio 99 kmIsabela Municipio 99 kmAñasco Municipio 100 kmQuebradillas Municipio 108 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 111 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 3.1 (md)
Depth
125 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 86 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3105 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 1,500 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 10,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,500 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.6× 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 80 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 18.8591, -67.8660. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 86 km (54 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 87 km (54 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 87 km (54 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 90 km (56 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 99 km (61 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 99 km (61 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 77 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.8 82 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 2.2 95 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.3 61 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.1 61 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.7 46 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.8 45 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.2 52 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 48 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.7 43 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 59 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.6 62 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 94 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 70 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.4 53 km ENE 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.