QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3md

93 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 93 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 11:39 pm AST on 28 January 2021 (03:39 UTC), 54 km deep.

· 54 km deep · released about 1.4 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Aguadilla Municipio 92 kmRincón Municipio 98 kmAguada Municipio 98 kmIsabela Municipio 101 kmMoca Municipio 105 kmQuebradillas Municipio 109 kmAñasco Municipio 110 kmMayagüez Municipio 115 kmCamuy 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 3.3 (md)
Depth
54 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Aguadilla Municipio, 92 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2035 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 1.4 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.4 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3× 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 6.0 on 2019-09-24 — about 10,000 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 19.1075, -67.7128. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 92 km (57 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 98 km (61 mi) SSE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 98 km (61 mi) SE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Isabela Municipio, PR 101 km (63 mi) SE earthquakes near Isabela Municipio
Moca Municipio, PR 105 km (65 mi) SE earthquakes near Moca Municipio
Quebradillas Municipio, PR 109 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Quebradillas Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 100 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.2 87 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.2 87 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.6 109 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.4 72 km NW of Rincón, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.4 76 km NW of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.5 93 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.1 72 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.2 Mona Passage
  10. 3.4 86 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.4 53 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.7 88 km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.4 68 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 60 km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.5 51 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.