QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

90 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 90 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 12:53 am AST on 18 December 2018 (04:53 UTC), 50 km deep.

· 50 km deep · released about 750 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 98 kmRincón Municipio 104 kmAguada Municipio 104 kmIsabela Municipio 107 kmMoca Municipio 111 kmQuebradillas Municipio 116 kmAñasco Municipio 116 kmMayagüez Municipio 118 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 2.9 (md)
Depth
50 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 98 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2885 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 750 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 20,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 750 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 4.7 on 2018-12-07 — about 410 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 19.1353, -67.7683. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 98 km (61 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 104 km (65 mi) SSE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 104 km (65 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 107 km (67 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 111 km (69 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 116 km (72 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas 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. 3.2 81 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.2 102 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 2.8 85 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.6 68 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 98 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 77 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.5 52 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.8 64 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 3.0 66 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.3 55 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.6 64 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 63 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.9 68 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 87 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.0 72 km NE 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.