QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

22 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 22 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 9:59 pm AST on 10 October 2018 (01:59 UTC), 106 km deep.

· 106 km deep · released about 420 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 72 kmRincón Municipio 106 kmAguada Municipio 112 kmAguadilla Municipio 113 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 2.8 (md)
Depth
106 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 72 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2882 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 420 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 36,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 26,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 420 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 4.3 on 2016-03-13 — about 200 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 18.6580, -68.2030. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 72 km (45 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 106 km (66 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 112 km (69 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 113 km (70 mi) E earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 120 km (75 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 122 km (76 mi) ESE earthquakes near Moca 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. 2.9 32 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.0 50 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 2.3 46 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.0 53 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.8 58 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 2.9 34 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.1 62 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.5 11 km SE of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic
  9. 2.5 51 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.7 17 km S of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 2.4 44 km E of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.0 Mona Passage
  13. 2.7 48 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.1 31 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 2.6 Dominican Republic region

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.