Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8md
82 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Yes. A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 82 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 7:35 am AST on 20 December 2019 (11:35 UTC), 19 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (md)
- Depth
- 19 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Aguadilla Municipio, 101 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 21 km (13 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 510 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 30,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 21,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 510 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 600 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 19.0993, -67.8411. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aguadilla Municipio, PR | 101 km (63 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio |
| Rincón Municipio, PR | 105 km (65 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Rincón Municipio |
| Aguada Municipio, PR | 106 km (66 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Aguada Municipio |
| Isabela Municipio, PR | 111 km (69 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Isabela Municipio |
| Mayagüez Municipio, PR | 113 km (70 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio |
| Moca Municipio, PR | 113 km (70 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Moca 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.
- 3.4 94 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 3.3 94 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.0 98 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 3.0 91 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 3.2 100 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 108 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 85 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 80 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 87 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 94 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.9 90 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- 3.2 80 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 3.2 89 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.1 87 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
- 2.7 99 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
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.