QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

100 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 100 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 11:44 pm AST on 17 January 2021 (03:44 UTC), 42 km deep.

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

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 112 kmAguada Municipio 119 kmRincón Municipio 119 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
42 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 112 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1947 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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 6.7 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× 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 290 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 19.2805, -67.7973. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 112 km (70 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 119 km (74 mi) SSE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 119 km (74 mi) SSE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 121 km (75 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 126 km (78 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 129 km (80 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 68 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.7 68 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.4 56 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.4 88 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 2.6 102 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.3 100 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.2 87 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 87 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 3.6 109 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 3.4 72 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 76 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.5 93 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.1 72 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.4 86 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.4 68 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.