QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6md

27 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 27 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 2:07 am AST on 27 July 2025 (06:07 UTC), 100 km deep.

· 100 km deep · released about 4.2 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 52 kmFajardo Municipio 76 kmVieques Municipio 77 kmCeiba Municipio 85 kmLuquillo Municipio 89 kmRío Grande Municipio 98 kmNaguabo Municipio 98 kmHumacao Municipio 107 kmCanóvanas Municipio 108 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 3.6 (md)
Depth
100 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 52 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 472 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 4.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 40,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 4.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 8.8× 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 57 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 68 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 45 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 65 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 47 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 36 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 22 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 40 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 28 km ENE 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 18.5916, -64.8988. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 52 km (32 mi) SW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 76 km (47 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 77 km (48 mi) SW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 85 km (53 mi) WSW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 89 km (55 mi) WSW earthquakes near Luquillo Municipio
Río Grande Municipio, PR 98 km (61 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

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

  1. 3.5 73 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 3.4 4 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  3. 3.4 56 km N of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.1 13 km SSW of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 3.1 28 km NE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 2.7 11 km SE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.3 39 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  8. 3.2 13 km ESE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.0 48 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  10. 3.1 63 km N of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  11. 3.1 44 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 3.4 62 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.8 47 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 3.4 59 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 3.1 65 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.