QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

11 km WNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 11 km WNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 10:51 am AST on 16 November 2018 (14:51 UTC), 29 km deep.

· 29 km deep · released about 290 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 30 kmVieques Municipio 51 kmFajardo Municipio 59 kmCeiba Municipio 64 kmLuquillo Municipio 72 kmNaguabo Municipio 77 kmRío Grande Municipio 81 kmHumacao Municipio 84 kmCanóvanas Municipio 90 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 2.7 (md)
Depth
29 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 30 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2917 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Culebra.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 290 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 51,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 36,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 290 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 since 2016 was M 4.2 on 2018-01-07 — about 200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 36 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 46 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 29 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 45 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 18.3798, -65.0313. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 30 km (18 mi) WSW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 51 km (32 mi) WSW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 59 km (37 mi) W earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 64 km (40 mi) WSW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 72 km (45 mi) W earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 77 km (48 mi) WSW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 18 km WNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 36 km NNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 28 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 2.8 29 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 3.1 47 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 44 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.3 29 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 2.6 35 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.2 55 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 2.3 6 km ESE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.2 Puerto Rico region
  12. 3.1 33 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 2.9 35 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 3.0 54 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 3.0 23 km N of Culebra, 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.