QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3md

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

Yes. A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 36 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 8:50 am AST on 19 October 2022 (12:50 UTC), 13 km deep.

· 13 km deep · released about 1.2 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Vieques Municipio 45 kmCulebra Municipio 46 kmCeiba Municipio 69 kmFajardo Municipio 73 kmNaguabo Municipio 79 kmHumacao Municipio 82 kmLuquillo Municipio 83 kmYabucoa Municipio 89 kmRío Grande Municipio 91 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 3.3 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Vieques Municipio, 45 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1484 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 49 km (30 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.

Likely felt in: Culebra 43 km, intensity II · Isabel Segunda 47 km, intensity II · Esperanza 49 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.2 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.5× 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 2021-10-08 — about 200 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 18.0197, -65.0180. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Vieques Municipio, PR 45 km (28 mi) WNW earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Culebra Municipio, PR 46 km (28 mi) NW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 69 km (43 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 73 km (45 mi) NW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 79 km (49 mi) WNW earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Humacao Municipio, PR 82 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

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

  1. 2.2 0 km SSE of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  2. 3.3 34 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 3.1 23 km WNW of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 3.5 14 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  5. 3.3 29 km SE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 2.8 10 km NNE of Isabel Segunda, Puerto Rico
  7. 2.9 28 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 2.9 29 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 3.2 8 km WSW of Culebra, Puerto Rico
  10. 2.9 15 km S of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  11. 2.9 8 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  12. 3.4 23 km SSW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  13. 3.3 14 km SSE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  14. 3.1 15 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  15. 3.2 22 km SSE of Esperanza, 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.