QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

49 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 49 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 11:08 am AST on 17 July 2018 (15:08 UTC), 78 km deep.

· 78 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 45 kmRincón Municipio 76 kmAguada Municipio 82 kmAguadilla Municipio 85 kmAñasco Municipio 89 kmMoca Municipio 93 kmHormigueros Municipio 96 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 98 kmIsabela 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 2.4 (md)
Depth
78 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 45 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2960 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 120 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 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 92,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 1,000 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 18.4828, -67.9508. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 45 km (28 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 76 km (47 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 82 km (51 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 85 km (53 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 89 km (55 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 93 km (58 mi) E earthquakes near Moca Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 47 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  2. 2.1 35 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.3 53 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 53 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.8 72 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 44 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.2 56 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.9 63 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.4 38 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 58 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.2 32 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 2.8 39 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.5 37 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 58 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 2.4 40 km WNW of Rincón, 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.