QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

81 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 81 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic at 08:48 UTC on 2019-03-17, 7.0 km deep.

· 7.0 km deep · released about 120 lb 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 2.4 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rincón Municipio, 155 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2720 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 20 km (12 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 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 86,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 2,500 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 19.3138, -68.3028. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rincón Municipio, PR 155 km (96 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 157 km (98 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 52 km NNE of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.1 97 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.1 107 km NE of Miches, Dominican Republic
  4. 2.8 47 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.1 76 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.3 55 km ENE of Miches, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.1 61 km NNE of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.8 58 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 3.7 59 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.5 49 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 2.3 90 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.3 58 km NNE of Miches, Dominican Republic
  13. 2.5 48 km ENE of Miches, Dominican Republic
  14. 2.6 43 km NE of Miches, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.2 103 km NE of Miches, 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.