QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

18 km NNW of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 18 km NNW of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic at 05:19 UTC on 2019-05-16, 142 km deep.

· 142 km deep · released about 650 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 119 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
142 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 119 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2653 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 650 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 23,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 650 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 4.6 on 2016-03-20 — about 370 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 18.8128, -68.7088. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 119 km (74 mi) SE earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 Mona Passage
  2. 3.4 20 km NE of Miches, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.2 14 km W of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 2.7 13 km WSW of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.7 1 km SSE of Guaymate, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.3 8 km NNE of La Romana, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.3 10 km WSW of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.8 13 km SW of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic
  9. 2.6 2 km E of Guaymate, Dominican Republic
  10. 3.1 7 km SW of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.4 6 km S of Guaymate, Dominican Republic
  12. 4.7 4 km SSE of Guaymate, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.3 12 km WNW of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.0 9 km ENE of La Romana, Dominican Republic
  15. 2.7 2 km ENE of Salvaleón de Higüey, 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.