Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1md
123 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
Yes. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 123 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico, at 11:14 pm AST on 24 December 2019 (03:14 UTC), 40 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (md)
- Depth
- 40 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Fajardo Municipio, 119 km SSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2433 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 8 km (5 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 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 270,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,500× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× 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 since 2016 was M 4.9 on 2018-11-14 — about 540 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.0 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 38 km E of this epicentre
- 5.6 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 42 km E of this epicentre
- 5.1 107 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 36 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.1 122 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 3 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.1 92 km N of Suárez, Puerto Rico · 49 km WSW 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 19.4185, -65.2836. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fajardo Municipio, PR | 119 km (74 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio |
| Luquillo Municipio, PR | 125 km (78 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio |
| Río Grande Municipio, PR | 128 km (79 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio |
| Loíza Municipio, PR | 128 km (80 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Loíza Municipio |
| Carolina Municipio, PR | 135 km (84 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Carolina Municipio |
| San Juan Municipio, PR | 138 km (86 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Juan Municipio |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.2 97 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.4 Puerto Rico region
- 3.2 97 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.2 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.4 98 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
- 3.6 104 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 4.7 105 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- 3.5 132 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
- 3.4 81 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
- 3.3 76 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
- 3.4 83 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
- 3.3 79 km NNE of Luquillo, Puerto Rico
- 3.5 116 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
- 3.6 130 km NNE of Suárez, Puerto Rico
- 3.1 118 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
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.