QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1md

63 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 63 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic, at 11:47 pm AST on 17 July 2018 (03:47 UTC), 49 km deep.

· 49 km deep · released about 1,400 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 42 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 113 kmRincón Municipio 115 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
49 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 42 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2960 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 1,400 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 7,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,400 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.5× 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 4.3 on 2017-06-22 — about 63 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 17.9230, -68.2426. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) ENE earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 113 km (70 mi) E earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 115 km (71 mi) ENE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 121 km (75 mi) ENE earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 122 km (76 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 124 km (77 mi) ENE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 67 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.0 39 km SSE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  3. 2.5 55 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.3 59 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.0 72 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.0 83 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.6 35 km S of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.3 33 km NNW of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  9. 3.0 66 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.8 65 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 65 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 2.8 61 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.4 55 km SSE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.2 50 km SSE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.2 48 km S of Boca de Yuma, 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.