QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6md

53 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 53 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 5:38 pm AST on 15 August 2021 (21:38 UTC), 103 km deep.

· 103 km deep · released about 4.3 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 25 kmRincón Municipio 80 kmAguada Municipio 87 kmAñasco Municipio 92 kmCabo Rojo Municipio 92 kmAguadilla Municipio 93 kmHormigueros Municipio 95 kmMoca Municipio 98 kmSan Germán Municipio 104 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 3.6 (md)
Depth
103 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 25 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1839 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 4.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 39,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 4.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 9.1× 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 4.4 on 2020-11-04 — about 14 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 18.2806, -68.0030. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 25 km (16 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 80 km (50 mi) E earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 87 km (54 mi) E earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 92 km (57 mi) E earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 92 km (57 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 93 km (58 mi) ENE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 34 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.8 21 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.1 64 km W of Stella, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.4 39 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.5 31 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.5 27 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.4 55 km WSW of Stella, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.3 80 km W of Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.0 61 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 3.8 35 km SSE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.3 63 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.6 52 km SE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.7 Mona Passage
  14. 3.6 45 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.6 8 km ESE 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.