QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

28 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands

Yes. A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 28 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, at 3:05 pm AST on 24 April 2024 (19:05 UTC), 16 km deep.

· 16 km deep · released about 780 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culebra Municipio 46 kmVieques Municipio 50 kmCeiba Municipio 73 kmFajardo Municipio 75 kmNaguabo Municipio 83 kmLuquillo Municipio 86 kmHumacao Municipio 88 kmRío Grande Municipio 95 kmYabucoa Municipio 95 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 2.9 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culebra Municipio, 46 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 930 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 30 km (19 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 780 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 19,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 780 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 620 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 · 39 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 29 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands · 22 km E 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 18.0845, -64.9568. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culebra Municipio, PR 46 km (28 mi) NW earthquakes near Culebra Municipio
Vieques Municipio, PR 50 km (31 mi) W earthquakes near Vieques Municipio
Ceiba Municipio, PR 73 km (45 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ceiba Municipio
Fajardo Municipio, PR 75 km (46 mi) WNW earthquakes near Fajardo Municipio
Naguabo Municipio, PR 83 km (52 mi) W earthquakes near Naguabo Municipio
Luquillo Municipio, PR 86 km (53 mi) WNW earthquakes near Luquillo 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. 3.1 28 km SE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  2. 2.8 41 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  3. 2.9 23 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. 2.9 8 km SW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  5. 2.7 22 km NNE of Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands
  6. 3.0 16 km S of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  7. 3.4 4 km NNW of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  8. 3.1 13 km SSW of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  9. 2.7 11 km SE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  10. 3.2 13 km ESE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  11. 2.6 11 km SE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  12. 2.7 8 km ESE of Esperanza, Puerto Rico
  13. 3.4 8 km NNE of Cruz Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
  14. 2.7 27 km S of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
  15. 3.4 22 km SSW of Cruz Bay, 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.