QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

20 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 20 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 7:41 am AST on 8 November 2019 (11:41 UTC), 25 km deep.

· 25 km deep · released about 130 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 32 kmVieques Municipio 42 kmCeiba Municipio 62 kmFajardo Municipio 62 kmLuquillo Municipio 74 kmNaguabo Municipio 74 kmHumacao Municipio 79 kmRío Grande Municipio 83 kmYabucoa Municipio 88 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 2.4 (md)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 32 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2475 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 130 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 5.8 110,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 80,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 130 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 4.2 on 2019-07-28 — about 480 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 29 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 33 km ESE 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 18.1880, -65.0373. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 32 km (20 mi) WNW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 42 km (26 mi) W earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 62 km (39 mi) W earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 62 km (39 mi) WNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 74 km (46 mi) WNW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 74 km (46 mi) W earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.6 19 km WSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.1 19 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.2 21 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.5 13 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 4.8 13 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.4 8 km SW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.5 25 km NNE of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 3.8 19 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.5 36 km W of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.5 18 km NE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 23 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.6 34 km SSE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 2.6 19 km NNW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 7 km NW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.7 13 km SSW of Cruz Bay, 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.