QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.8md

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

Yes. A magnitude 3.8 earthquake was recorded 95 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 8:46 pm AST on 18 May 2023 (00:46 UTC), 140 km deep.

· 140 km deep · released about 6.4 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 95 kmFajardo Municipio 97 kmLuquillo Municipio 105 kmRío Grande Municipio 110 kmCeiba Municipio 112 kmLoíza Municipio 114 kmVieques Municipio 119 kmCanóvanas Municipio 120 kmCarolina Municipio 120 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
140 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 95 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1273 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 6.4 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 27,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.8 about 6.4 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 13× 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 5.0 on 2021-02-06 — about 72 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 91 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 36 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 33 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 37 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 107 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 28 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 122 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico · 31 km NNW 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 19.1690, -65.1741. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 95 km (59 mi) S earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 97 km (60 mi) SSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 105 km (66 mi) SSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 110 km (68 mi) SW earthquakes near Río Grande Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 112 km (70 mi) SSW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Loíza Municipio, PR 114 km (71 mi) SW earthquakes near Loíza Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.7 141 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.8 118 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.0 89 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.0 Puerto Rico region
  5. 3.4 74 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.3 100 km NNE of Vieques, Puerto Rico
  7. 3.0 Virgin Islands
  8. 3.5 Virgin Islands
  9. 3.7 60 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.9 96 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.6 81 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.4 72 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.7 Virgin Islands
  14. 3.7 53 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.2 80 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico

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.