QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.8md

35 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 3.8 earthquake was recorded 35 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 10:59 am AST on 31 October 2022 (14:59 UTC), 18 km deep. 18 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 18 km deep · released about 7.8 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 48 kmFajardo Municipio 68 kmVieques Municipio 73 kmCeiba Municipio 78 kmLuquillo Municipio 80 kmRío Grande Municipio 89 kmNaguabo Municipio 91 kmCanóvanas Municipio 99 kmHumacao Municipio 100 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 3.8 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
18 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 48 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1399 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 81 km (50 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.

Likely felt in: Culebra 49 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.8 about 7.8 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 16× 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 since 2016 was M 4.8 on 2021-03-09 — about 31 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 68 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 46 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 36 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 32 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 40 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 38 km E of this epicentre

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 18.6491, -65.0098. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 48 km (30 mi) SW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 68 km (42 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 73 km (46 mi) SW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 78 km (48 mi) SW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 80 km (50 mi) WSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 89 km (55 mi) WSW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.2 80 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 2.7 50 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.4 37 km NNE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  4. 3.3 68 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 3.0 71 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.4 55 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.4 Virgin Islands region
  8. 3.4 48 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.1 Puerto Rico region
  10. 3.2 75 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 2.9 Puerto Rico region
  12. 3.4 65 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.3 Puerto Rico region
  14. 3.3 72 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 4.2 Puerto Rico region

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.