QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.3md

Mona Passage

Yes. A magnitude 4.3 earthquake was recorded in Mona Passage at 19:35 UTC on 2023-05-01, 123 km deep.

· 123 km deep · released about 51 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 105 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 4.3 (md)
Depth
123 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 105 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1215 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 26 km (16 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 51 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 3,300× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 150× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.3 about 51 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 110× 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 5.3 on 2019-02-04 — about 27 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 18.4360, -68.8105. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 105 km (65 mi) ESE earthquakes near Mayagüez 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. 4.0 8 km SE of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.9 20 km SW of San Rafael del Yuma, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.2 10 km W of Guaymate, Dominican Republic
  4. 3.8 7 km SSE of Guaymate, Dominican Republic
  5. 3.9 3 km NNE of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic
  6. 3.8 22 km S of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  7. 4.3 11 km SSE of Ramón Santana, Dominican Republic
  8. 4.0 Mona Passage
  9. 3.6 Mona Passage
  10. 4.0 9 km SSW of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic
  11. 2.7 6 km NW of Otra Banda, Dominican Republic
  12. 4.0 17 km SSW of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.7 26 km SSE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  14. 4.1 11 km NW of San Rafael del Yuma, Dominican Republic
  15. 2.8 12 km NW of La Romana, 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.