QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

79 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 79 km ENE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 2:50 pm AST on 28 January 2020 (18:50 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

· 7.0 km deep · released about 220 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 77 kmRincón Municipio 80 kmAguada Municipio 82 kmIsabela Municipio 88 kmMoca Municipio 90 kmMayagüez Municipio 92 kmAñasco Municipio 93 kmQuebradillas Municipio 97 kmSan Sebastián Municipio 102 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 2.6 (md)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 77 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2405 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 22 km (14 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 220 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 68,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 48,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 4.6 on 2018-12-25 — about 1,100 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 18.8995, -67.7303. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 77 km (48 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 80 km (50 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 82 km (51 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 88 km (55 mi) ESE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 90 km (56 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 92 km (57 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 47 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.9 73 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.3 75 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 2.6 88 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 4.2 84 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.0 83 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 2.9 72 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 72 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.1 73 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 2.5 77 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 4.1 79 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 4.1 74 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.6 76 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 2.9 72 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.0 69 km NW 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.