QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

61 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 61 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 10:56 pm AST on 1 January 2020 (02:56 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

· 7.0 km deep · released about 1,100 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 102 kmAguadilla Municipio 108 kmRincón Municipio 108 kmAguada Municipio 111 kmIsabela Municipio 119 kmMoca Municipio 120 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 3.0 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 102 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2474 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 39 km (24 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 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 13,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 270 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 18.9936, -68.0100. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 102 km (63 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 108 km (67 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 108 km (67 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 111 km (69 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 119 km (74 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 120 km (74 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca 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. 3.4 91 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.1 75 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 77 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.0 93 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 71 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.9 69 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.6 79 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.4 24 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 2.8 77 km NNE of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.8 93 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.3 76 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.3 85 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.2 69 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.3 83 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 2.9 77 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

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