QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7md

91 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 91 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 9:25 pm AST on 17 December 2019 (01:25 UTC), 44 km deep.

· 44 km deep · released about 380 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 103 kmRincón Municipio 109 kmAguada Municipio 109 kmIsabela Municipio 112 kmMoca Municipio 116 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 2.7 (md)
Depth
44 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 103 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2440 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 380 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 40,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 29,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 380 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 810 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 19.1711, -67.7970. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 103 km (64 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 109 km (68 mi) SSE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 109 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 112 km (70 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 116 km (72 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 120 km (75 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 89 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 2.5 63 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 2.8 87 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 88 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.8 81 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 82 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.8 102 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 2.9 104 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.5 84 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.9 100 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.1 78 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 2.8 104 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.4 94 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 2.7 86 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.6 98 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.