QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

111 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 111 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 2:40 pm AST on 19 December 2019 (18:40 UTC), 36 km deep.

· 36 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 114 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 2.9 (md)
Depth
36 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 114 km SSE
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 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 450 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 19.3511, -67.7201. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 114 km (71 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 122 km (76 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 122 km (76 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 123 km (76 mi) SSE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 128 km (79 mi) SSE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 129 km (80 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 87 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.7 94 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 90 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.2 80 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.2 89 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.1 87 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.7 99 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 2.5 99 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 90 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.6 77 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.0 91 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.5 84 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 2.7 90 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 85 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.8 81 km NW 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.