QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5md

33 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Yes. A magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 33 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at 2:00 pm AST on 17 September 2022 (18:00 UTC), 28 km deep.

· 28 km deep · released about 2.4 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 94 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 3.5 (md)
Depth
28 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 94 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1446 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 55 km (34 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 2.4 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 70,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.4 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.1× 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 2020-05-02 — about 25 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 18.8515, -68.2668. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 94 km (59 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio
Rincón Municipio, PR 121 km (75 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rincón Municipio
Aguadilla Municipio, PR 125 km (78 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguadilla Municipio
Aguada Municipio, PR 126 km (78 mi) ESE earthquakes near Aguada Municipio
Añasco Municipio, PR 135 km (84 mi) ESE earthquakes near Añasco Municipio
Cabo Rojo Municipio, PR 149 km (92 mi) SE earthquakes near Cabo Rojo 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. 3.8 71 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.6 36 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.2 72 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.3 Mona Passage
  5. 3.4 Dominican Republic region
  6. 3.8 Dominican Republic region
  7. 3.9 27 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.8 38 km ESE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  9. 3.8 75 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  10. 3.9 79 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  11. 4.2 Mona Passage
  12. 3.9 52 km NNE of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.7 Mona Passage
  14. 3.8 66 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  15. 4.1 64 km NNE 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.