QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.9mb

143 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 4.9 earthquake was recorded 143 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 8:10 pm AST on 13 November 2018 (00:10 UTC), 85 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 85 km deep · released about 340 tons of TNT

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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 4.9 (mb)
Depth
85 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2842 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 160 km (99 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 340 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 500× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.9 about 340 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 710× 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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. The previous largest was M 4.5 on 2018-03-06.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 34 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.6 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 37 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 107 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 37 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 122 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 34 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 122 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 26 km SE of this epicentre

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 19.6256, -65.0840. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 113 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 2.8 113 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.2 Puerto Rico region
  4. 3.4 120 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 4.8 127 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.2 116 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.1 124 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 2.9 114 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 2.9 144 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 131 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 101 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 2.8 95 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.4 160 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.2 109 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 3.0 113 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

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.