QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.0md

Mona Passage

Yes. A magnitude 4.0 earthquake was recorded in Mona Passage, at 9:27 pm AST on 1 December 2023 (01:27 UTC), 145 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 145 km deep · released about 13 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mayagüez Municipio 98 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 4.0 (md)
Depth
145 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity VI
Nearest
Mayagüez Municipio, 98 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1009 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 13 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 13,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 420× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.0 about 13 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 27× 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 4.7 on 2019-07-28 — about 13 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 18.6660, -68.5893. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mayagüez Municipio, PR 98 km (61 mi) SE earthquakes near Mayagüez Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 4.0 2 km NNW of Guaymate, Dominican Republic
  2. 3.8 5 km WNW of San Rafael del Yuma, Dominican Republic
  3. 3.2 31 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  4. 4.2 10 km SE of Guaymate, Dominican Republic
  5. 4.0 27 km ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  6. 2.6 10 km WSW of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic
  7. 3.7 22 km SE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  8. 3.7 14 km SSE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
  9. 3.1 23 km ESE of Miches, Dominican Republic
  10. 4.0 15 km SW of Salvaleón de Higüey, Dominican Republic
  11. 3.1 34 km NNE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  12. 3.3 34 km N of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
  13. 3.8 3 km NNW of Guaymate, Dominican Republic
  14. 3.8 16 km SE of La Romana, Dominican Republic
  15. 3.9 28 km NNE of Otra Banda, 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.