Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2md
85 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 85 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 7:49 pm AST on 16 December 2019 (23:49 UTC), 10 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Aguadilla Municipio, 107 km SE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2443 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 46 km (29 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 1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 170,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,400× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,200× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 1 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.1× more
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 150 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 19.1580, -67.8593. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aguadilla Municipio, PR | 107 km (66 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio |
| Rincón Municipio, PR | 111 km (69 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Rincón Municipio |
| Aguada Municipio, PR | 112 km (70 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Aguada Municipio |
| Isabela Municipio, PR | 116 km (72 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Isabela Municipio |
| Moca Municipio, PR | 119 km (74 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Moca Municipio |
| Mayagüez Municipio, PR | 119 km (74 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.0 95 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 81 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 2.8 95 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 100 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 2.9 78 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 2.8 81 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 2.5 85 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 92 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 2.9 97 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 86 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 2.9 88 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 87 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 99 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 91 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 2.9 104 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.