QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2md

72 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 72 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 11:48 pm AST on 1 January 2020 (03:48 UTC), 19 km deep.

· 19 km deep · released about 1,700 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 83 kmRincón Municipio 85 kmAguada Municipio 87 kmMayagüez Municipio 91 kmIsabela Municipio 95 kmMoca Municipio 95 kmAñasco Municipio 98 kmQuebradillas Municipio 104 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 108 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 3.2 (md)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 83 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2471 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 41 km (25 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 1,700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× 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 in our catalogue was M 4.6 on 2018-12-25 — about 140 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 18.8993, -67.7980. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 83 km (52 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 85 km (53 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 87 km (54 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 91 km (57 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 95 km (59 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 95 km (59 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca 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. 2.6 79 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.0 89 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 24 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 2.8 93 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.3 76 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.1 37 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 89 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 85 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.8 54 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.2 69 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.3 83 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 2.9 77 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.2 83 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 101 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.0 104 km NNW 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.