QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

16 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 16 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 12:09 am AST on 9 September 2019 (04:09 UTC), 42 km deep.

· 42 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 37 kmVieques Municipio 60 kmFajardo Municipio 63 kmCeiba Municipio 70 kmLuquillo Municipio 76 kmNaguabo Municipio 83 kmRío Grande Municipio 85 kmHumacao Municipio 92 kmCanóvanas Municipio 95 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 2.3 (md)
Depth
42 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 37 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2621 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 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 since 2016 was M 4.7 on 2018-04-06 — about 4,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 36 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 37 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 40 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 43 km ENE of this epicentre

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 18.4733, -64.9948. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 37 km (23 mi) WSW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 60 km (37 mi) SW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 63 km (39 mi) W earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 70 km (44 mi) WSW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 76 km (47 mi) W earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 83 km (52 mi) WSW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 25 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.4 48 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.8 51 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.3 19 km W of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 3.0 57 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 49 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 59 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 2.8 47 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.1 61 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 2.5 64 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.8 33 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.2 28 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.0 47 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.7 9 km ENE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.1 17 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

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.