QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

78 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 78 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 11:28 am AST on 31 January 2020 (15:28 UTC), 10 km deep.

· 10 km deep · released about 510 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 97 kmRincón Municipio 101 kmAguada Municipio 102 kmIsabela Municipio 108 kmMayagüez Municipio 108 kmMoca Municipio 110 kmAñasco Municipio 113 kmQuebradillas Municipio 116 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 2.8 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 97 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2398 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 26 km (16 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 30,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 21,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. 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 19.0520, -67.8428. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 97 km (60 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 101 km (63 mi) SE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 102 km (64 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 108 km (67 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 108 km (67 mi) S earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 110 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 81 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.3 82 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.5 91 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  4. 2.9 76 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  5. 2.8 85 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  6. 2.8 78 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.5 72 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.7 73 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 2.7 66 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.8 80 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 81 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.2 71 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.1 82 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.2 82 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 2.7 Mona Passage

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.