QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

122 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 122 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 12:37 am AST on 27 August 2019 (04:37 UTC), 34 km deep.

· 34 km deep · released about 44 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
34 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 133 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2634 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause 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 44 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 340,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 240,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 44 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 6,900 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 19.5165, -67.7760. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 133 km (83 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 140 km (87 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 147 km (91 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio
Camuy Municipio, PR 153 km (95 mi) SE earthquakes near Camuy Municipio
Hatillo Municipio, PR 158 km (98 mi) SE earthquakes near Hatillo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 88 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.0 93 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.6 94 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.2 90 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.5 108 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 2.8 109 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.7 108 km NE of Miches, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.2 112 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 108 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.3 108 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.1 118 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.0 136 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.2 124 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.3 99 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 2.9 88 km NNE 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.