QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

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

Yes. A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 47 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 10:31 pm AST on 19 December 2019 (02:31 UTC), 20 km deep.

· 20 km deep · released about 480 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 49 kmFajardo Municipio 62 kmLuquillo Municipio 74 kmCeiba Municipio 75 kmVieques Municipio 75 kmRío Grande Municipio 81 kmNaguabo Municipio 87 kmCanóvanas Municipio 92 kmLoíza Municipio 92 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 2.8 (md)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 49 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2518 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 19 km (12 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 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 710 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 · 45 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 73 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 50 km NW 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 18.7290, -65.1231. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 49 km (30 mi) SSW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 62 km (39 mi) SW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 74 km (46 mi) WSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 75 km (46 mi) SW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 75 km (46 mi) SSW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 81 km (51 mi) WSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 48 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.4 60 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 2.9 41 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.1 55.7 km S of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.9 57 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.3 58 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.1 71 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 65 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 4.5 71 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.3 75.2 km SSW of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.5 73 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.4 81 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.3 76 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 74 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.4 83 km NNE of Luquillo, 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.