QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

79 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 79 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 3:40 am AST on 8 September 2018 (07:40 UTC), 12 km deep.

· 12 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 106 kmRincón Municipio 110 kmAguada Municipio 111 kmMayagüez Municipio 114 kmIsabela Municipio 116 kmMoca Municipio 119 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 1.9 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 106 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2987 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 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 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 730,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 520,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 46× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 1,500 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 19.1121, -67.8963. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 106 km (66 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 110 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 111 km (69 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 114 km (71 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 116 km (72 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 119 km (74 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 78 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 91 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 54 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 2.9 75 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.8 89 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 48 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.2 Dominican Republic region
  8. 3.3 84 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 2.8 74 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 3.2 77 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 2.6 66 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.4 89 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.0 113 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.1 31 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.1 80 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.