QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.2md

130 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 4.2 earthquake was recorded 130 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 11:44 am AST on 27 November 2023 (15:44 UTC), 101 km deep.

· 101 km deep · released about 33 tons of TNT

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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 4.2 (md)
Depth
101 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1009 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 56 km (35 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 33 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 5,100× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 230× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 160× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.2 about 33 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 70× 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 14 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.2 131 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 27 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 91 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 40 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 25 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 112 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands · 22 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 97 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 37 km SSE 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 19.5118, -64.7601. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.7 101 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.8 106 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.5 98 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.4 99 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 3.9 103 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.5 103 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.8 114 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 3.3 95 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.8 120 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.3 98 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 3.4 108 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.8 103 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 4.6 99 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 3.2 107 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 3.3 89 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

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.