QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

36 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 36 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 6:11 pm AST on 16 August 2022 (22:11 UTC), 14 km deep.

· 14 km deep · released about 280 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 46 kmCulebra Municipio 46 kmCeiba Municipio 69 kmFajardo Municipio 73 kmNaguabo Municipio 79 kmHumacao Municipio 83 kmLuquillo Municipio 83 kmYabucoa Municipio 90 kmRío Grande Municipio 92 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 2.6 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 46 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1548 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 20 km (12 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 280 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 53,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 38,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 280 lb of TNT

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 2021-10-08 — about 1,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 22 km NNE of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands · 42 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 29 km S 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 18.0177, -65.0132. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 46 km (29 mi) WNW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 46 km (29 mi) NW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 69 km (43 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 73 km (46 mi) NW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 79 km (49 mi) WNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 83 km (51 mi) W earthquakes near Humacao Municipio

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 15 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  2. 2.9 8 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.4 23 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.3 14 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.1 15 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  6. 3.2 22 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  7. 4.0 12 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 2.6 10 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  9. 3.3 28 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.9 18 km SE of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.7 37 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  12. 2.7 5 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.2 2 km N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 2.9 33 km NW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 3.0 33 km SSW 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.