QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

64 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 64 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 2:58 am AST on 30 January 2019 (06:58 UTC), 117 km deep.

· 117 km deep · released about 750 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 18 kmRincón Municipio 70 kmAguada Municipio 77 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 81 kmAñasco Municipio 82 kmHormigueros Municipio 84 kmAguadilla Municipio 84 kmMoca Municipio 88 kmSan Germán Municipio 93 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
117 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 18 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2764 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 4.4 on 2017-10-01 — about 160 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 18.2475, -67.9053. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 18 km (11 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 70 km (43 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 77 km (48 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 81 km (51 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 82 km (51 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Hormigueros Municipio, PR 84 km (52 mi) E earthquakes near Hormigueros Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 22 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.1 52 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  3. 2.7 54 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 2.9 38 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.7 41 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 63 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.3 31 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.6 36 km WNW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.9 59 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.4 35 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.5 42 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 1.9 22 km W of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.8 71 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.0 40 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  15. 1.8 25 km W of Rincón, 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.